A Swordsman's Holiday
by MyNoseAgreesWithMe
Summary: What do you get when you mix the plans of an egotistical businessman who wants to remake the world, a snarky swordsman from another dimension, and a bored Arceus with the ability to see past the fourth wall? Why, the third major installment of the "Tuesday-verse," of course! Complete.
1. Chapter 1

**.**

 **A/N: Well, what are the odds? I decided to release this story on the first holiday after I completed the final chapter - and lo and behold, that holiday happened to be on a Tuesday! So enjoy this new installment, and have a happy Singles' Awareness Day. And without further adieu, I present to you...**

 **A Swordsman's Holiday**

* * *

It was September 27, 2025, exactly 53 and a half seconds after 10:18 AM. And Kazuto Kirigaya was _bored_.

And not that fun kind of bored either, where you've finished all your homework assignments but you're still full of energy and so you can distract yourself by working on some kind of creative hobby like learning to build a homemade AR system or writing a fictional story (but ignore all the run-on sentences until later, since your imagination doesn't wait for you to self-edit before moving on to its next tangent and then abruptly jumping back) – it was the sort of bored that leads you to spend all day browsing the Internet for silly pictures of cats and montages of stunts failed in humorous manners or other people's attempts at stifling boredom by vomiting stories into their word processor and then uploading them online until, before you know it, you've wasted the whole day and you wonder _what am I doing with my life?_. But I digress.

He had already promised Yui the last time he saw her that he _wouldn't_ spend all day on the computer next time he had a day off, but with Suguha halfway across the country for a kendo tournament and Asuna over at the orphanage Yui had hacked herself into the registry of for an "isolated prospective parent visit," the part-time Spriggan had no idea what to do with his day.

 _*Sigh* I can't go into ALFheim either, since that's technically 'on the computer…'_ he groused as his eyes fell on the AmuSphere next to his bed. _And practicing katas in the dojo just isn't the same as fighting against an opponent. I mowed the lawn_ last _Saturday, and I don't feel like trying to translate any of those coding manuals right now…_

He flopped back onto his bed with a groan. "I wish _something_ exciting would happen today. And preferably sometime _soon._ " The last sentence was spoken in a confrontational tone, as if _daring_ the universe to take him up on it, and Kazuto waited with bated breath to see whether or not his half-hearted plea had worked.

Ten seconds passed.

Then fifteen more.

By the time a full minute had passed, the pressure had built up to almost suspenseful levels, enough that Kirito started feeling almost lightheaded. _No – gotta stay focused,_ he reminded himself. _At this point something's_ bound _to happen, I can feel it!_

The tension was abruptly cut by the sound of coughing, and Kirito whipped his head around to berate whoever had dared to interrupt – only to be hit with a sudden bout of dizziness.

As it turns out, holding your breath for a full minute while waiting for nothing to happen is not the wisest course of action, and Kirito learned that lesson first-hand.

 _Note to self_ , he thought as he thumped his chest to stem the coughing. _Remember that TV and movie depictions of suspense are not to be expected unless you're inside a VRMMO or in the vicinity of Ash and Serena… Speaking of which, I wonder why they haven't shown up in ALFheim since Aincrad was put back in?_

And of course, now that they had entered the equation, normality was suspended and the excitement he had been craving decided to finally give him a call.

Literally.

His phone began ringing, and he automatically answered it. "Hello?"

 _"Hey there, Kirito!"_ A cheerful voice on the other end of the line announced. " _It's Ash. Hey, I forgot to tell you last night – if you, Asuna, and Yui want to come watch me compete in the Kalos League today, I can buy you guys tickets! If not that's okay, 'cause the finals aren't until next week and I don't expect to lose before then."_

A sigh from Serena interrupted him. _"Ash, I know you're confident, but isn't that the kind of thing Pikachu says will Jynx you if you say it?"_

 _"Aw, come on! You know that's not real!"_ Ash retorted playfully. _"Besides, now that Charizard insists on competing against Alain's Mega Charizard too, how_ would _I lose? Disqualification for being late to the field?"_

"Hold on – did you say _last night_?" Kazuto questioned. "It's been almost six months since the party, so how did…" His eyes drifted past a knickknack on his shelf shaped like a blue phone booth, and he verbally backspaced. "Oh right, time gets all wibbly-wobbly when alternate dimensions get involved. Never mind."

 ** _Aw, but I was going to say it was because I had decreed it so…_** a grandiose voice moped dejectedly from… somewhere… along the connection.

 _"…Really, Arceus?"_ Ash deadpanned. _"I know I'm the Chosen One and all, but do you have_ nothing _better to do than listen in on my phone conversations?"_

 ** _When one end of the connection lies outside the universe I created and the topic of the conversation involves bringing someone from that universe into Mine, it_** **is** ** _my business._** The Alpha Pokémon informed him indignantly. **_But yes, I was bored. Much like I suspect your friend was, based on the way he first answered you._**

 _"Really? But they just put Aincrad back into ALFheim last night, so how could he – right, the whole time thing we were talking about when you oh-so-rudely interrupted."_

"Besides, I'm taking a break from the Internet for today. I promised Yui that I would, and I can't visit her because the people in charge of the real-world adoption process want to see how she interacts with each of us individually or something like that."

Serena connected the dots relatively quickly. _"Oh, and today's Asuna's day for that?"_

"Yep, got it in one. We figured a real-life adoption would make a suitable cover story if anybody asked about her age, so I helped her secretly register herself as a resident in an orphanage about a week or so after the party. I get the feeling the other kids there are gonna miss her, though – one of the workers said something about them 'seeming more well-balanced ever since she was transferred in' last time I was there."

 ** _This being the girl you requested that Mewtwo create a clone body for and then carried across to your friend's universe?_**

Ash ignored Arceus in favor of chuckling. _"Well, considering she was originally designed as a psychological assistant, that's not surprising. How much longer do you think it's gonna take?"_

"Probably only about another month or so, maybe less." Kirito answered. "Asuna's parents were a little skeptical when we first told them, but now they can't wait for Yui to come stay with them until Asuna and I get our own apartment after graduation."

 ** _All right, that's enough. This is taking way too long. Hoopa! Throw one of your portal rings right there. No, you don't need to know why – it's because I said so._**

A small metal ring fell out of Kazuto's phone (making him wonder what the heck was going on, let alone where on the phone it could have emerged), rolling to a stop several feet away on the floor. It then expanded to show an image that would not have been out of place in an Escher painting or that old movie he remembered where people tried to plant an idea inside someone else's dream. Thankfully, before it could hurt his brain too much, something else appeared inside the ring that was much kinder on his sense of spatial perception.

 ** _Now, are we going to do this the easy way or the hard way?_** Arceus asked, poking its head up through the newly created hole in space-time. **_Either way, it's gonna be My way._**

The Alpha Pokémon was answered with a shinai strike that, if it had been used against any other opponent, would have seriously disoriented them. As it was, however, it simply passed through with no effect.

 ** _Sorry, but that's not going to work. Ghost Plate and all that._** The phone and the bamboo sword were torn from Kazuto's grasp, and his arms and legs snapped straight as if he had been hit with a _Petrificus Totalus_. **_You're going to watch that tournament, or so help Me… hold on, does it even make sense for me to be saying that?_**

The Creator of the Pokemon Universe shook its head. **_Never mind. Your presence there will deviate events far enough from the original timeline to keep me entertained, Charizard notwithstanding, and I will manipulate the relative speed of time such that you will return at the end of your 'day off.' Got it? Doesn't matter, I've already made up My mind._**

As Kazuto was dragged through the otherworldly realm, he caught a brief glimpse of a giant six-winged serpent covered in red and yellow and a small creature that reminded him vaguely of the genie NPCs from old flatscreen RPGs before Arceus abruptly tossed him towards another giant ring. _Wait, was the smaller one seriously eating a donut?_ he wondered absently in an attempt to keep his mind off his impending collision with the ground on the other side. His limbs unstuck just before he passed through – and then the scene shifted in front of him, dropping him directly onto a cart full of fruit balanced at the top of a hill.

"Well, that was a fortunate landing…" he thought out loud, gingerly standing up and trying to make his way to the edge without damaging any more of the Berries he had been sitting on. Unfortunately, his statement drew the attention of the cart's proprietors.

"Oi, dere's a twoip pulverizin' our purloined Pinaps and Pechas!"

I'll give you three guesses who the cart belonged to, and the first two don't count.

…

…

…

If you guessed Team Rocket, you were wrong. (Do not pass "Go," do not collect $200.) They had actually stolen the cart from a local farmer – the same one whose Berries they had been trying to sell as their own – which meant that _it_ didn't belong to them either.

Little things such as 'ownership' didn't matter to petty criminals like Team Rocket, though, and the remaining two members turned as one to confront whoever dared to damage their rightfully stolen property.

"Look, I'm not trying to cause trouble here." Kazuto placated as he gingerly pulled himself over to the outside of the load. "I – wait, did you say 'purloined?' That means these aren't even yours in the first place!" In his incredulity, he temporarily neglected his situational awareness, which proved to be his (literal) downfall.

A small, unripe Cheri Berry that had somehow been mixed into the load found its way under his foot, and in an attempt to regain his balance he slammed into the side of the cart, shifting it slightly. In accordance with the laws of thermodynamics, the cart and its contents then attempted to stabilize themselves in an equilibrium with the lowest amount of free energy.

Which, thanks to gravity, was at the bottom of the hill.

"Oh, for Pete's sake…" Kazuto grumbled as the cart began to pick up speed. The ensuing ride was both thrilling and terrifying – compared to some of his flights in ALFheim, the speed was nothing, but there he could also control his speed using his wings (which he did not possess in reality).

And to top it all off, Arceus decided that it wasn't quite done messing with Kazuto yet. **_Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. This isn't one of those 'participate for a while, put it on pause, and then come back' things. You're kinda stuck here until the tournament is over._**

Kazuto crossed his arms in annoyance, even though the Alpha Pokémon wasn't physically there to see it. "You're kind of a jerk, you know that? Anything _else_ you wanna tell me, just to make it worse?"

 ** _Actually, there is one thing – but_** **not** ** _telling you is actually what would make it worse._**

Several seconds passed. "…And that is?"

 ** _Oh, right. Sorry, I had to destroy a rogue mosquito from yet_** **another** ** _alternate dimension that would have eventually grown into a world-devouring monster if I had ignored it, and I got kinda distracted. What was the question again?_**

By this point, Kazuto had to physically stop himself from grinding his teeth in frustration. "That thing you mentioned, the one where _not_ telling me about it is worse than telling me?"

 ** _Hmm? Oh, that. You're on a collision course with a solid brick wall right now. Good luck figuring that out. Toodles!_**

The runaway cart hit the curb, flinging its contents forward as it made the jump, and Kazuto sighed as he braced himself for impact with the rapidly approaching wall (and for the almost-guaranteed hospital visit that he would need afterwards). "Well, so much for watching Ash compete."

"Wait, did you say you know Ash?" a voice asked off to the side. Kazuto was confused for a second about whether or not the newcomer had meant to address _him_ , and then he was confused for several more seconds about why the wall was no longer getting bigger. Then a slight blue glow around one of the Berries in front of his face caught his attention, and he managed to connect the dots.

 _That's right – I'm in Ash's world now, and psychic powers actually exist here._ He felt himself getting lowered to his feet, and turned around to face his rescuer. "Yeah, he and Serena helped me rescue my fiancée several months back. Thanks for the save, by the way."

"Don't thank me, thank Metagross." the newcomer said, indicating a Pokémon whose disk-shaped body and four bulky legs looked (to Kazuto) like a tank-style mobile assault platform from an FPS. "The name's Alain. And you are?"

Kazuto accepted the outstretched hand. "Kazuto. Kazuto Kirigaya. And now I'm curious – how do _you_ know Ash? He mentioned you when inviting me and said you had a Mega Charizard, but that's all I really know about you."

"I ran into him about a month ago when I saw him battling another Trainer with his odd Greninja." Alain answered. "I was going to battle him with the Charizard he told you about, but my boss called me in before I could – something about having found another Trainer with a strong Mega Evolution for me to battle. That's kind of my job right now, by the way, and it's part of the reason I'm participating in the League, since this is the first year the rules allow people to battle using Mega Evolutions. But anyway, since his Greninja's transformation apparently doesn't count as a Mega Evolution, we agreed to face each other in the Kalos League, so here I am."

Kazuto chuckled. "He sure manages to bring out the competitive streak in everyone he meets, doesn't he?"

Alain snorted in amusement. "Not just competitiveness, it seems. I'm not usually _nearly_ that open when talking to strangers, especially after what happened to Chespie –" He broke off suddenly, realizing the topic he had just brought up.

It was a bit too late, though. "Who's Chespie?" Kazuto asked, and was that _concern_ in his eyes because he didn't have the luxury of letting people being _concerned_ about him because everyone who got close to him ended up getting hurt so he'd better make sure that Kazuto _didn't_ get mixed up in any of this and –

"My friend's Chespin." Alain stated brusquely. "I made a mistake, he got hurt, and my boss is trying to find out a way to help him recover. End of story."

"Ah, _there_ 's the brooding loner I know so well." Kazuto joked in an attempt to cheer his new acquaintance back up. All he succeeded in doing, however, was confusing the blue-scarved Trainer.

"What do you mean? We just met less than five minutes ago."

"I know him because I _was_ him – for a while, at least." The swordsman took a deep breath, steeling himself to tell the story. "I had a… group of close friends who all died because of a stupid mistake I made, and for the longest time I refused to let anyone else get close for fear that it might happen to them. In retrospect, I can see that I was being stupid by doing that – instead of growing as a person, I was letting a single moment in my past define who I was, not letting myself move past it."

Seeing Alain open his mouth as if to protest, Kazuto held up his hand. "I'm not saying it's a bad thing to want to keep those you care about safe from getting hurt; the problem is when you take that desire so far that it becomes an obsession, or even just gets to the point of overprotectiveness. The first one actually hurts them _more_ , since they care about your well-being too, and the second is kind of self-explanatory. And again, I'm speaking from experience."

Alain's brow furrowed. "Huh. I never thought about it that way before. Lysandre always told me that my determination was admirable and to never let anyone tell me otherwise, but after hearing your story I kind of wonder _why_ he said that."

"He probably just never went through something like that himself." Kazuto responded in an attempt to resolve Alain's confusion. "Even the best intentions can go astray sometimes." An image of Akihiko Kayaba overlooking a crumbling Aincrad flashed in his mind – and as it left, it left behind the niggling seed of an idea. _Hold on – what if this Lysandre guy is Kayaba's counterpart in Ash's world?_

"Hey, Alain?"

"Hm?"

"Has Lysandre, by any chance, said something to you about 'creating a new world' or something similar?"

Alain was confused by the apparent non-sequitur, but decided to answer as honestly as he could. "I'm guessing you've met his recruiters, then? They say that all the time. 'A new world, a brighter tomorrow' – it's like their catchphrase or something."

Kazuto shook his head. "What? No, I just knew someone back home who your description reminded me of." _And just like Kayaba, it sounds like he's recruited clueless and/or idealistic folks into helping him carry out his misguided plan._ "Do you think maybe I could meet him sometime?"

Alain _humm_ ed in thought. "I don't know – he's usually the one who contacts me, so I'm not sure when I'll see him next."

He snapped his fingers as an idea came to him. "Wait a minute, you said you were here to meet up with Ash, right?"

"Yeah, before I got lost and somehow ended up in that runaway fruit cart." Kazuto answered sheepishly.

Alain nodded sharply. "That's it, then. Once he sees Ash's Greninja competing in the League, he's bound to want to meet him, so if I take you to meet Ash's group you're bound to run into him sooner or later. I was just about to head over to the League building for registration anyways."

Kazuto grinned. "Sounds like a plan. Do you think we have time to swing by the police station on the way first, though? The people who had that cart earlier said something about the fruits inside being stolen or something…"

Alain glanced at his Holo Caster. "Sure, we've got time. Metagross?"

 _Processing… Directive updated, Sir._

Kazuto stared blankly for a couple of seconds. "…Does your Metagross seriously communicate with a British accent? It sounds like it's trying to be a butler or something." He then shook his head, remembering his recent account with a certain bored Legendary. "Never mind – you don't need to explain. That's just its 'thing,' isn't it?"

 _You are correct, Master Kirigaya. Though some may view us simply as subhuman creatures, our personalities remain just as diverse as those of your species, and in some cases our intelligence surpasses certain of yours. Such as Sir, for example._

"Hey!" Alain protested. "Are you calling me stupid?"

 _Congratulations, Sir. You have succeeded in interpreting the literal meaning of my statement. Now all that remains is for you to identify whether or not it was made in jest, and its veracity shall be determined by your analysis._

Kazuto mulled over Metagross' last statement briefly. "So, in essence, if he thinks you're calling him stupid for real, that means he actually _is_ stupid?"

 _An apt summation, Master Kirigaya._

"Okay, that's it. Metagross, return – Kazuto can push the cart himself. I'm not gonna stand for this." He pulled out a Pokéball and pointed it at the Iron Leg Pokémon, activating the recall feature.

 _As Sir wishes. Though perhaps I ought to point out that you would_ _ **not**_ _be standing, but rather walki–_

Metagross vanished into a swirl of red light.

"You know, he does make a pretty good point about the whole 'standing vs. walking' issue…" Kazuto snarked, walking over and grabbing the handles of the cart.

"You wanna try and find your way around the city yourself?"

The swordsman's teasing grin immediately fell away. "Point taken."

They walked the rest of the way to the station (and then afterwards the League) in silence – but since they were both naturally introverted, that was perfectly okay with them. After a brief mix-up at the registration desk (where the clerk assumed that they were siblings competing against each other), they located the Trainers' Lounge and sat down to wait for Ash to appear.

Which turned out to be on the TV – but that story is best saved for the next chapter.

* * *

Omake: fate/Sword Tuesday

* * *

 _Wait, was the smaller one seriously eating a donut?_ Kazuto wondered absently in an attempt to keep his mind off his impending collision with the ground on the other side. His limbs unstuck just before he passed through – and then the scene shifted in front of him, dropping him directly onto a couch in a lavishly furnished parlor.

Well, perhaps not _directly_. There was still enough distance for his fall to demolish the sofa beneath him, shaking the room and causing several expensive-looking items to fall off the shelves along the walls. Almost immediately, a wave of almost palpable feminine anger surfaced from a room below, its origin quickly moving up towards his current position.

The underlying coldness of her mind simply enhanced the strength of her killing intent, and Kazuto instinctively grabbed at his back to retrieve Elucidator. As his fingers closed around its hilt, he vaguely registered that _wait, that wasn't supposed to work I'm not in Aincrad or ALFheim_ before the door burst open and drove any such thoughts out of his mind.

Contrary to his expectations, though, the red-shirted teen's eyes widened when she saw him, and they appeared to glint an even _brighter_ blue than they already were as her anger dropped away. "YES, I DID IT!" she shouted, twin pigtails bouncing as she pumped her fist. "Take that, Fake Priest! Even though I forgot to set my clocks back, I _still_ got the strongest!"

 _Hold on a moment – 'fake priest,' tsundere girl wearing red and black, called me the 'strongest' after seeing my sword…_ "Oh, you have _got_ to be kidding me." Kazuto complained, having recently re-watched a certain anime series from which Yui's combat style drew inspiration.

As if the universe was telling him _no, I'm not kidding_ , Rin Tohsaka raised her right hand to reveal a lollipop-shaped set of three stigmata on its back. "You doubt my power as a Master, _Servant Saber_? Or will I have to use a Command Seal to get you to cooperate?"

Kazuto sighed. "At least this takes care of my boredom. If I'm the Saber-class servant, though, I wonder if Shirou will end up with the same Archer who wants to kill him…"

"WHAT? Why would you say something like that?" Rin interrupted, only to quickly put on a sloppy mask of indifference. "I'm – I'm not asking because I'm worried about Shirou or anything! Your statement about Archer's motivations just caught me off guard, that's all!"

A mischievous grin made its way onto Kazuto's face. "Oh, really? So you're not even the _slightest_ bit jealous of your sister Sakura, who goes over to his house almost every day?"

As Rin ranted in typical tsundere fashion about how that wasn't the case, Kazuto chuckled, realizing what was _really_ going on. _This must be an omake – she's not even questioning_ how _I know all this personal information! That, and the whole fandom shift thing… Thankfully, that means this will probably be over in a few more sentenc_


	2. Chapter 2

**.**

"…Aaand _there_ we go. All finished!" Clemont announced to the empty room, tightening the last screw on his newly repaired S.K.A.T.E.S (Mk. VII). Why he was talking to an empty room, we may never know – but suffice it to say that its acoustics rendered his statement rather underwhelming.

The Lumiose Gym leader sighed. "It's just not the same without an audience…" he moped, silently lamenting the lack of Ash's customary _"science is so amazing!"_ If he didn't know better, he would have sworn that his stomach rumbled in agreement.

But, being the sufficiently scientific-minded person that he was, he instead recognized it as the herald of a different concern: namely, he needed to eat breakfast. After all, how was he supposed to cheer on his friend in the Kalos League if he had no energy? Plus, he kind of needed to eat in order to properly field-test Korrina's birthday present – and honestly, he was getting kind of tired of keeping them a secret from her for so long. Maybe he could just give them to her when he finished them and figure out something else for her birthday? That way he would get to see her exuberant smile twice, and –

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door opening, and he looked up to see Ash and Serena standing in the doorway. "Wow, that was fast." the inventor told them, glancing at his Wrist-Adorning Tiny Clock Holder (patent pending) to confirm what his brain was telling him. "I know Ash eats quickly, but how did you eat breakfast, call that friend of yours, and get back here in less than a minute? Especially since we found out that all the equipment in here interferes with Serena's tablet signal everywhere but on the observation deck upstairs…"

Now it was Ash's turn to be confused. "What do you mean? We just came down to let you know we were heading to the stadium on our own so I wouldn't be late to register – it's been an hour and a half since we went down to eat breakfast!"

"Not by my WATCH, it hasn't." Clemont replied, choosing to use his device's acronym to save time. Not that it mattered, since the narration spent just as much time explaining the joke and then poking fun at itself for doing so as it would have if he had used the original name – but by now he had kind of accepted such attempts at hypocritical humor as par for the course.

Or at least he would have, if he was aware of the fourth wall. As it was, the only character with such powers was Arceus – and said Pokémon was currently busy manipulating events so that when Kazuto appeared across town he would run into a long chain of humiliation.

Until Clembot entered the scene, of course. As their introductory foray into the world of VRMMOs had proven, his programming enabled him to locate minute fractures in said barrier, even if he was aware he could not overtly reveal that fact without being retconned out of existence. Said limitation did not prevent him from asking pointed questions to let them "discover" things they would not have otherwise realized, though.

"Does it perhaps have anything to do with the third party I detected connecting to your conversation from an undisclosed location?"

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention. The other reason Arceus didn't butt in on Ash and Serena's conversation with Clemont was because it was already in the middle of interrupting their conversation.

Confused yet? You should be. As someone well-versed in the subject once said, "If you try to understand time travel and don't get a headache, you haven't understood it yet." Of course, said person lived in a universe where time travel was a recognized – and researched – part of society (to the point where an overzealous preteen student was given a time travel amulet so they would be able to attend every single one of their school's classes, _even though several of them took place at the same time_ ), so your mileage may vary on the veracity of that statement.

Regardless, Ash and Serena suffered from simultaneous headaches as one of them (they weren't quite sure who) realized what was going on, and they swayed slightly on their feet as they attempted to telepathically reduce each other's discomfort. While they were doing so, Ash happened to extend his perception down through the floor, and his eyes widened. "Whoa – I didn't expect that!"

Serena nodded. "I know what you mean. But I guess that explains why I got that headache (or is it 'am having that headache?' I guess time travel is weird like that…) during breakfast."

Ash grinned dorkishly. "Hey, look at it this way. Now the two of us can say we know what it feels like to be in two places at once!"

His girlfriend couldn't help the grin that snuck its way onto her own face as she swatted at him playfully. "You're horrible, you know that?"

He ducked under her hand, before snaking an arm around her shoulders and planting a peck on the crown of her head. "Love you too, honey."

"Hold on – did you say _time travel_? In the _half a minute since you had left_?" Clemont interrupted, incredulous. "I know you said it was longer for you, but how could you…"

"Let's just say I'm on first-name terms with a very powerful, and right now very bored, Legendary Pokémon considered by all but a few groups of skeptics to be the creator of the Pokémon universe and leave it at that."

The entire group pointedly ignored the fact that being 'on first-name terms' with someone who only had one name in a world where last names were rarely exchanged, let alone used, sort of detracted from the gravity of Ash's statement.

"If you say so…" Clemont conceded. "But I guess that's sort of a good thing, since it means we have time to pick up Bonnie from the house and walk over to the stadium as a group."

Ash snapped his fingers as a thought from earlier resurfaced. "Oh yeah, that reminds me – thanks for letting us borrow your Gym for that last-minute training session last night!"

"No problem. I still had some tinkering to do with these things, and you guys gave me a legitimate excuse to stay the night over here instead of watching that sappy movie marathon with Dad. He knows those things always bore me and Bonnie to sleep, so I don't get why he insists on using them for 'family bonding time'…"

Now I assume you, having either seen the anime or read my earlier stories, can easily infer Meyer's reasoning for doing so. After all, just as dead men tell no tales, neither do sleeping kids recognize when their dad is trying to give himself a convenient alibi for his vigilante superhero work (though with the growth he had seen in them since they began traveling with Ash, he was starting to wonder why he still kept it a secret from them. After all, some of the excuses he gave them – like 'sorting my rubber band collection' – were getting stretched pretty thin, but that's neither here nor there).

"Here is your backpack and your breakfast, Sir." Clembot announced, holding up said accessory alongside a small half-gone wheel of cheddar. "I figured it would be the most nutritionally and contextually fitting for your current circumstances."

"Um… thank you, I guess?" his inventor said, brow furrowing as he tried to parse exactly what the AI meant.

Clembot bowed. "It was my pleasure. INVOLUNTARY SCENE WIPE!"

"Wait a minute, what are you talking ab–"

* * *

The newly constructed League Stadium was bustling with activity when the small group of friends arrived. Vendors were hawking wares left and right, people and Pokémon milled about all over the place, and there was even a member of the Kalos Elite Four acting as a TV anchor for the League's national broadcast. And while most of the population were considerate enough to leave her space for her filming, there were a few souls brash enough to try and photobomb her segments for childish ends (such as waving hello to their mothers or pulling faces at the camera).

Bonnie would have been in the latter group, except for the facts that a) she was still in the process of trying to convince Grace to become her step-mom and so did not (yet) _have_ a mother to wave hello to and b) she was currently dangling from a robotic Aipom arm, which severely limited her range of motion.

"Meanie." she pouted, crossing her arms in an attempt to look intimidating. But once again, thanks to Clemont's most reliable piece of technology, her efforts were fruitless. And speaking of fruit…

"Hey, isn't that Team Rocket over there?" Ash wondered, pointing at the pink-haired anchor's camera crew. "You know, if they just stuck to honest jobs like that, they'd probably be a lot more successful than they are now. They're actually pretty good at that sort of thing."

Serena nodded. "Yeah, Jessie's performances aren't actually half-bad, and they could be _great_ if she wasn't trying to split her attention between that and chasing Pikachu." Suddenly, she frowned. "Huh."

Clemont and Bonnie, who did not have the advantage of thought-sharing to tell them what was bothering her, were concerned, but the younger sibling beat her brother to the punch. "What's the matter, Serena?"

"What? Oh, I was just wondering why we use the phrase 'not half bad' to describe things like that. It's usually meant as 'that thing has potential,' but what if someone thought it meant the thing was _all_ bad?" She shook her head. "Language can be _weird_ sometimes."

"I wholeheartedly agree." a new voice interrupted, drawing everyone's attention. "Which is why I've been inviting Trainers to give me their honest opinion about this year's League conference in the plainest words possible. The name's Malva, Fire-type specialist of the Elite Four and part-time TV anchor. Any competitors here willing to give me an interview?" She held out her hand, waiting for someone to shake it.

"Uh, sure, I guess." Ash said, temporarily releasing Serena's hand so that he wouldn't have to try and shake Malva's left with his right. "I'm the only one of us four competing."

"Wonderful! Then let's – wait, have I seen you before?"

The Pallet native scrunched up his face in thought, tongue bulging in his cheek as he counted on his fingers, and Malva inwardly breathed a sigh of relief that the cameras weren't rolling at the moment. (At least she didn't think they were, but she didn't want to risk missing his answer by checking.)

He finished his mental arithmetic with a nod and turned back to Malva. "Maybe. Did you watch the broadcasts of last year's Unova League, or the Sinnoh League the year before that? I made Top 8 and Top 4 those years…"

Malva shook her head. "I don't think so – it seems more recent than that. Something about a Garchomp that went on a rampage while I was visiting with one of the station's donors? I think I remember seeing your face on the TV in his office."

Ash's eyes widened in realization. "Oh, _that_ 's why that helicopter never got close to the tower! I thought they were waiting for an opportunity to get close and drop someone off to help me, but that makes a lot more sense. I didn't think about it any more than that, because that was when Garchomp almost fell and I didn't want her to get hurt."

For several moments, the reporter was lost for words. When she finally spoke again, it was with incredulity. "Do you mean to tell me that you had _absolutely no idea you were on TV?_ "

"Honestly? No, I didn't. I mean, I sort of heard about it in passing because Serena said something about 'that's how she knew I was in Kalos,' but that statement never really registered until just now."

Malva sweatdropped, but signaled behind her for the camera crew to start filming. "Okay then. I'm sure some of our viewers may recognize you from the Garchomp incident, but would you please state your name for those who don't?"

Ash nodded. "Sure. I'm Ash Ketchum, from Pallet Town in Kanto!"

"And what are your hopes or desires for this year's League conference?"

The Pallet native pumped his fist. "I'm here to win this thing, just like everyone else – but I'm also here to have fun battling with my Pokémon!" He saw a little kid looking at him in awe from the sidewalk and flashed him a thumbs-up. "And for all you kids who want to be Pokémon Masters but are too young to go on your own journeys yet, never lose sight of that hope. Just keep saying to yourself: _I'm gonna be the greatest Pokémon Master ever, dattebayo!_ "

Then he frowned. "On second thought, I have no idea what that last word meant; I just thought it sounded cool. You can probably leave that part off when you say it. Hmm, I wonder if there are any good ramen places around…"

Malva cleared her throat to bring the camera's attention back to her. "Well, you heard it here first, folks! A declaration of victory, followed by words of inspiration for aspiring Trainers everywhere! I wish you the best of luck, Ash."

Ash chuckled bashfully. "Thanks a lot. By the way, I think you should tell your camera crew they're doin' good, and that they'll go pretty far if they keep on doing what they're doing."

Now, to any other camera crew, this would have been an inspirational message for an underappreciated group – but this was Team Rocket, and they caught his underlying meaning loud and clear. Their faces paled as he winked at them and strolled off, hand linked with Serena's once more.

"…Does either 'a youse get da feelin' dat it's more trouble followin' da twoip around dan it's worth?" Meowth asked quietly.

James nodded. "Ever since he and the twerpette ended up in that two-week coma back when they were last in Lumiose City, we've hardly ever gotten past our motto." he agreed.

"Hmm, and I suppose stopping would allow me to let my natural talent and beauty shine through as I dazzle the crowd with my performances!" Jessie mused, blissfully ignorant of the fact that of the two she only possessed a modicum of the first.

"So does that mean we're giving up on Pikachu?" James questioned, prompting several seconds of silence. This being Team Rocket, though, there was only one conclusion to which they could be expected to come.

"NAH!"

* * *

After his interview with Malva, it seemed like everybody and their mother wanted to talk to Ash and offer him either thanks (for the Garchomp incident, mostly from the parents/business owners) or encouragement (for the upcoming League, mostly from other itinerant Trainers). By the time their group exited the crowd, Serena was seriously considering applying a Notice-Me-Not to get Ash to the registration desk in time. Before she could, though, they were accosted by one final person.

"So! Already decided you're the winner, have you?" a guy with a floppy red Mohawk challenged him. "Then in that case, I dare you to show me just how strong you are!" He enlarged and threw a Pokéball, revealing a Kabuki-trim Furfrou that was just as eager for battle as its Trainer.

"A battle, huh? Well, who am I to –"

Ash was interrupted by the sound of a clearing throat, and he turned to see Serena tapping her wrist with a pointed look on her face.

"Oh yeah, you're right. Thanks, Serena." He turned back to the Trainer, the man's name drifting across his and Serena's mind-link. "Sorry, Everett, but I've gotta get to registration before it closes. I'll battle you next time, I promise!"

Everett offered no resistance as Ash's group bypassed him, too busy wondering _how the heck did he know my name?_ to respond. It was only his Furfrou's barking that snapped him out of it, and he quickly registered their absence with a growl. "So he thinks that just because he knows my name he can brush me off, does he? I bet he doesn't even intend to honor that 'promise'." He clenched his fists tightly. "I'll show him! I'll show up somewhere I _know_ he's gonna be, so that he'll _have_ to fight me without that girlfriend of his interrupting us again!"

He turned to walk away, and promptly… tripped over his tied-together shoelaces? Hold on, that doesn't make sense – his intent couldn't have even been classified as malicious until Serena had already left the area, so she had no motivation to bring back that running gag!

 ** _Okay, okay, I admit it. I got so bored I'm stooping to petty pranks now. Hurry up and write something exciting already! I brought their friend over from his universe for comedic gags and epic fights, not for boring character interactions that only differ slightly from the original timeline but still display character development. And I don't think that's what the readers want, either!_**

Hey, the readers aren't from Your universe either. You have no control over what they want or don't want to see, and neither do I. Besides, how am I supposed to get to the situations that _have_ those epic fights without setting the stage, AKA world-building? _ESPECIALLY_ if you keep interrupting every time I try to do so?

 ** _With an abrupt scene cut, like this._**

Hold on, like wh–

* * *

 ** _Sorry about that, but I couldn't let Clembot have all the fun, could I? And this way you don't have to come up with an excuse not to have written around their interactions with the fat dancer and the beansprout photo nerd – you can just get straight to the reunion with tall, dark, and brooding._**

…I hate you. You know what, just to drag it out longer: RANDOM HONEDGE ATTACK!

 ** _(Hehehe, exactly as planned…)_**

Did you say something?

 ** _What? No!_**

Anyway, just before Ash spotted Alain (and by extension Kazuto), a _CRASH_ at the other end of the catering courtyard interrupted him. He instinctively switched over to Aura Sight to scan for danger – and was physically knocked backward by the power he could now sense radiating out from the giant rock that Steven Stone had agreed to put on display.

 _"At last!"_ a grating, metallic voice rang out, coming from the breach in the containment unit. _"After weeks of wandering, I have finally located a suitable test for those who consider themselves worthy to be my wielder. I, the sword of legendary knight Sir Veresta!"_ The Honedge removed its sheath and plunged its blade deep into the stone, tassel beckoning as if daring someone to try and extract it.

All the Trainers in the hall (barring the disoriented Ash and his ever-supportive girlfriend) stood stock-still at this pronouncement, even if they did not know exactly what the Honedge had said. The 'come and get me' gesture was clear enough, but they were all familiar enough with the legend of Honedge's soul-sucking tassels that they were wary of getting too near. Pokémon were out of the question too, since any attacks that missed the Honedge would damage a priceless artifact.

The ensuing silence was broken by the sound of a snort. "A sword in a stone? Could you _get_ any more cliché than that?" Kazuto walked forward, blissfully unafraid of his peril, and stopped next to the microphone stand neighboring the Stone. He disassembled it and extracted a metal rod, adopting a standard kendo stance. "You know, if you're looking for a chosen wielder, brute strength alone isn't gonna cut it. What's the point of having massive strength if your opponent is skilled enough to deflect or evade every blow?"

The Sword Pokémon's jewel blinked briefly as it processed Kazuto's ultimatum, and then its tassel whipped out at blinding speeds to try and ensnare the swordsman's arm. Some of the onlookers yelled at him to _look out!_ as soon as they noticed the tassel moving, but their warning was too late to be of any help.

Not that he needed that help. After all, Kirito hadn't been given the Dual Blades skill for no reason. His improvised shinai swept up into the tassel's path, following a complex pattern that wove it into a knot around the shaft and prevented it from moving. "You'll have to be faster than that." Pulling the cloth taut, he approached the Honedge slowly, rolling the tassel around the rod as he did so.

Its jewel blinked faster. _"Impossible. I have met no human with such speed before. Even my late master wore full armor to protect himself from my touch when we sparred – and yet you forego that protection entirely."_

"…You do know I have no idea what you're saying, right?" Kazuto deadpanned. He picked up the discarded sheath with his free hand and examined it. "Hmm… straight blade, looks like a carbon/steel alloy, about two and a quarter feet long. A bit short for my tastes – but hey, a sword's a sword. Now, given the amount of surface area currently wedged inside the rock, my guesstimate is that pulling you out will take about _this_ much force."

As he spoke, he grabbed onto the hilt with his free hand and _yanked_ , pulling on the tassel with the one holding the microphone pole to decrease the amount of effort needed. The Honedge, distracted by Kazuto's nattering, was caught off guard and so was unable to grip the sides of the hole in time.

It let out a metallic sigh, appearing to deflate in his hand. _"I concede. Perhaps humanity has not become as soft as I thought during my 600 years of sleep."_

"Hold on, how can a _sword_ be _asleep_ , much less for six hundred years?" Kazuto asked incredulously. "And how the heck did I understand you _that_ time and not any of the other times?"

The Sword Pokémon stiffened (well, as much as a straight piece of metal _can_ stiffen) in surprise. _"Now that I think about it, I do feel something odd – as if I was attempting to drain a soul that was fundamentally incompatible with my abilities. Is my tassel touching you, by any chance?"_

Kazuto glanced at his arms. "Huh. Now that I think about it, it is. Does your tassel normally, as you say, 'drain the souls' of whoever it touches?"

He seemed to feel a pulse of affirmation coming from the sword in his hand. _"It is an instinctive defense brought on by our ghostly nature, though some sufficiently-strong Doublade and Aegislash have been rumored to know how to control it. With you, however, it is as if I am conceptually incapable of doing any more than to establish the connection through which the draining normally occurs."_

 _Maybe it's because I'm from another universe._ Kazuto thought in the sword's direction, attempting to test out a hypothesis that its last statement had triggered. _Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if this was just Arceus messing with me again…_

The Honedge's 'eye' appeared to widen, and its thoughts turned to awe. _You have met the Creator, and you have no need to fear my soul drain? With the combat knowledge you displayed in order to fend off my tassel, I would be deeply honored to become your disciple._

Kazuto sighed internally. _I'm not gonna be able to dissuade you about this, am I?_

 _I am afraid not, Master._

The swordsman's sigh was audible this time. "Great, it seems like I've got my very own Genos now." he said, untangling the Honedge's tassel from the microphone rod. "Hey Alain, have you got a spare Pokéball?"

Alain blinked. "Wait, are you saying you don't have any of your own?"

"No – don't you remember that whole fiasco at the reception desk?"

"I was trying _not_ to…" the teenager grumbled, rifling through his pockets. "Sorry, I'm all out."

"Here, use this one." A blob of gray, red, and white intruded on Kazuto's peripheral vision, and he turned his head slightly to see a three-fingered robotic arm holding out an unshrunk Pokéall. "As a Gym Leader, it should have been my responsibility to take initiative and deal with the problem – so this is the least I can do."

Alain's brow furrowed. "Wait, which Gym Leader are you again? I don't remember facing you for any of my Badges – and haven't you been traveling with Ash?"

"Lumiose, actually. I left a robot here that I programmed with my battling style in order to fill in for me, so I understand why you might have been confused."

Alain groaned, smacking his face with his hand. " _How_ did I not see that before? It's so _obvious_ in hindsight…"

"Maybe because you were focused more on the outcome of the battle than its participants." Kazuto chimed in, having discreetly captured his new Honedge (who, thanks to its Master's comment, now insisted that its name was Genos). He then turned to face Clemont. "And you must be the inventor that Ash told me about. Is he here?"

"Yeah; he's over there, actually." Clemont pointed over to the edge of the yard, where Ash was sitting in a chair recovering his breath. "I think he may have been extra-sensitive to the energy contained in that giant rock on display, especially considering how big it is."

"I'm okay now!" the Aura adept called over, waving. "Hi Alain, hi Kazuto!"

Kazuto waved back as the small group walked over to him. "Hey there. Saw you on TV – but did you _have_ to make that Naruto reference back there?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about, dattebayo. AUGH, what did I _do_ to myself?!"

Alain was unable to keep the corners of his mouth from twitching upward. "Are you sure you're up to battling, Ash? I came here to face you, but it won't be satisfying if you're not at the top of your game."

Ash smirked. "You better believe it!" he answered, causing Kazuto to facepalm once again. "Oh, by the way – I think Professor Sycamore wanted to talk to you, Alain."

The blue-scarved Trainer's mood instantly took a nosedive, but seeing Kazuto out of the corner of his eye reminded him of their earlier conversation and he suppressed his instinctive reaction to clam up like a Shellder. "I think I just might take him up on that offer." he said after several seconds of contemplation. "Have fun watching the tournament together." Alain then exited the courtyard to locate Professor Sycamore – ironically enough, just as said Professor entered it from the other side to get an early look at the first-round matchups.

"Oh, Alain's battling in the first match? I suppose I'll have to wait until after his battle to talk to him, but I'm sure his performance will be simply marvelous!"

You'll just have to wait and see, Professor. _Everyone_ will have to wait and see…

* * *

Omake: Fate/Sword Tuesday, Part II

* * *

"You know, I _really_ have to question your choices in fashion." Kirito snarked as he defended himself against his opponent's spear. "I mean, Cap and Superman can pull it off, but blue spandex is _not_ your color. It makes you stand out like a bruised thumb…"

His opponent smirked. "My warrior's way calls me to engage in combat openly, so I have no need for stealth. And with the speed granted me by my armor's enchantments, I rarely meet an opponent who can track me – let alone keep up. Which is why it's so exhilarating to finally find a worthy opponent!"

"I guess it's too bad your Master just has you on recon duty, then." Kirito retorted, parrying Gae Bolg's attack with his Anneal Blade +6. That caused Cú Chulainn to waver slightly in surprise.

"Okay, he wants to know how the heck you know that. We've never met before, and there's no way your pretty little Master deduced his identity so quickly."

Kirito grinned. "Who says I did? You just eliminated a good portion of her potential suspects, though – we now know for sure that your Master is a dude. And based on your tone of voice, I'm guessing you don't care overly much for him either. Did he hijack your contract or something?"

Before Lancer could reply, though, the clatter of falling brooms next to the PE field interrupted them. Looking over, they saw a redheaded teenager turning to frantically run away, and Lancer sighed. "Sorry kid, but I can't leave any civilians alive. Rules of the war and all that."

"And how do you know he's a civilian?" Kirito countered, Sprinting in between the spearman and his target. "I have it on good authority that he received Magus training from your Master's rival." He could almost hear Kirei Kotomine's squawks (er, dignified grunts) of surprise at the insinuation that Kirito knew his identity, but ignored it in favor of jabbing his thumb behind him at Rin Tohsaka.

"Besides, she'll get all tsundere-angsty if you kill him – I can tell from his voice that this was originally the Unlimited Blade Works route – and you wouldn't want to upset a pretty lady, would you?"

"HEY! You better not be saying anything bad about me!" said Magus yelled, having been unable to hear his whispered comment.

Lancer shivered. "I definitely wouldn't want to be on the wrong side of that temper. Good luck dealing with her – I'm out. Peace!"

He bounded away over the rooftops, only to poke his head awkwardly around the corner seconds later. "Um, and that last sentence doesn't mean I refuse to ever fight again, OK? OK."


	3. Chapter 3

**.**

"You know, I feel kind of sorry for that orange-haired kid." Kazuto commented as he and the others sat up in the stands. "After all, if Alain has been traveling around battling nothing but Mega-Evolved Pokémon – barring present company and Gym Leaders, of course – he's probably got the skill to back up his brute strength."

The tubby Trainer sitting opposite Ash and Serena chuckled. "I wouldn't be too sure about that. Trevor's been training hard ever since summer camp, and he has that secret weapon he mentioned yesterday too."

Kazuto let out an amused snort. "This 'secret weapon' wouldn't be one of those Mega Evolutions, would it? Alain told me yesterday that this was the first year they were allowed, so I'm guessing a lot of people are probably going to have one as their own 'secret weapon'."

Tierno deflated slightly. "Now that you mention it, it _does_ seem kind of obvious." He quickly perked up again, though. "Look guys, the match is starting!"

Sure enough, both Trainers had called out Charizard onto the field. Alain's had a necklace with a large stone fixed into it, whereas Trevor's accessory appeared to be more of a tail bracelet. Both Charizard roared intimidatingly, unwilling to let the other cow them.

Trevor quickly broke the stalemate, though. "If you won't take the first move, then I will! Charizard, Fire Spin!"

"Aileron counter, on my command." Alain's Charizard nodded, jumping up into the sky as a stream of fire hit the ground where he had been standing and began to spiral upwards. Alain took note of its orientation as the spiral formed, waiting until it had gathered enough energy to establish itself. "Counterclockwise, _now!_ "

The Charizard in the air immediately gave his wings a mighty flap, spinning _himself_ clockwise in order to create a counter-current of air around him. Said airflow, when it encountered the flame tornado rotating in the opposite direction, created a pocket of stagnant air that interfered with the thermals sustaining his opponent's Fire Spin, dissipating it harmlessly. And if that's not quite how vortices and thermals work, I blame alternate-dimension physics.

"Now, throw him off balance with a Flamethrower! Zero point three!" Alain's Charizard growled in acknowledgement, firing off a gout of flame that, while it looked massive, was little more than an empty shell, attempting to bluff the opponent into wasting energy with a dodge.

Trevor was definitely impressed by his strategy, but he still defiantly stood his ground. "Block it with Dragon Claw, Charizard!"

The resistance granted to him by the attack's Dragon-type energy enabled Trevor's Charizard to easily withstand Alain's assault, and Trevor grinned, unaware of the fact that it _had_ been a bluff. "That was a nice move – it looks like I'll have to go all out from the very start! Let's do this, Charizard!" He lifted his camera up to his face, brushing his finger against the Key Stone embedded inside it, and his Charizard transformed in a flash of multicolored light.

Alain glanced down at his bracelet as it glowed in response, nodding resolutely. _That's one step closer to helping Lysandre find a cure for Chespie._ He tuned out Trevor's bragging about Charizard-Y's Drought ability, having already been familiar with it from his previous battles. At his opponent's command for a Heat Wave, though, he returned his attention to the battle. "Terrain defense: Magikarp."

His Charizard _whuff_ ed in agreement, jumping into the shallow river and creating a mighty Splash of water. Now saturated with humidity, the air surrounding him had a much higher heat capacity than its previous state – and so the heat that managed to get past the leading edge of the wave only raised the temperature by half the intended amount; an easily withstood change. He then clambered out on his Trainer's side of the river, keeping an eye on his opponent the entire time.

Trevor refused to let his failed attempt get him down, though. "Keep up the pressure, Charizard! Dragon Tail!"

"Jump across, anchor at 3:00." Alain ordered as Charizard-Y launched itself high into the air, tail glowing green. His own Charizard complied, positioning himself on Trevor's side of the bank and wrapping his tail around a large rock to his right.

Trevor smirked. "You think moving like that is gonna get you out of the way? You're forgetting that my Mega Charizard is still a Flying-type, so he can control his descent and still hit you. And that rock's too big for your Charizard to pick up with just his tail, so he can't block it that way."

Alain answered him in kind. "Who said I was trying to block? Charizard, hoist anchor!"

Charizard immediately pulled in his tail – which, since its free end was anchored on the rock, _yank_ ed him out of the way of the descending Charizard-Y with no prior warning. As a result of his former position, the ensuing Dragon Tail attack ended with Charizard-Y's tail flame underneath the water. Now, for a Charizard-X this wouldn't have been a problem; Trevor's Mega Charizard, on the other hand, still possessed a weakness to Water, and so experienced a noticeable energy drain as some of his strength was shunted to keeping his tail flame alight.

Alain's stance shifted slightly. "All right, I think it's time we went on the offensive." He placed his fingers on his Mega Ring, focusing on the memories of his time with Charizard. "Key stone, respond to my heart…" he intoned in a low voice, gradually getting louder as he spoke. "Surpassing the strength of evolution, on the road to our shared destiny – Mega Evolve!"

As he finished his mantra, he waited to feel the burst of energy that normally accompanied his Charizard's Mega Evolution. Nothing happened.

Blinking, he looked at the field, wondering what might have gone wrong.

Charizard-X gazed back at him expectantly, waiting for orders.

 _Hold on, WHAT?_ he thought, before deciding not to worry about the discrepancy until afterwards. "All right, Charizard – Flamethrower, zero point seven!"

"Counter with Fire Spin!"

Alain looked back at the battlefield for another round of analysis. He hadn't noticed before, but there was a thin layer of soot across the top of the rocks where vegetation had been trying to take hold before the field was brought out for use. "Charizard, flap your wings and stir up that soot!"

When combined with the inexplicable smoke cloud that almost always appeared when non-physical attacks collided, the newly developed air currents created a massive Smokescreen around the two combatants.

Trevor growled in annoyance. "Charizard, fly up and see if you can spot him!"

Alain smirked as a new strategy came to mind. "Blast Burn: Downdraft Variant on my mark. Heading 10:30, range 19.5. Then follow up with a Flamethrower at 53 degrees elevation."

Trevor panicked, unable to make sense of the cryptic instructions. "Evasive maneuvers – make yourself hard to hit!"

As Trevor's Charizard was flying near the rocky crag, Alain's voice rang out. "NOW!"

A circle of blue flames erupted out of the ground around Charizard-Y, creating strong updrafts wherever they appeared. But the air to replace those updrafts had to come from somewhere – and in this case, that "somewhere" was the center of the ring beneath its occupant. The sudden drop in air pressure led to a loss of lift, and Charizard-Y fell several feet before he could stabilize himself.

Fortunately for him, it appeared, as the Flamethrower attack that Alain had ordered cut through the space he had occupied not a second before. Trevor's eyes traced the Flamethrower back into the smoke cloud, and a grin grew on his face. "You missed, and now we know where your own Charizard is!"

Alain quirked an eyebrow, though the action was hidden from Trevor's sight. "Or did I?"

"Huh?" Trevor looked back at his Charizard, only to see a massive rock tumbling from the top of the cliff right onto the base of his wings. Its momentum, combined with Charizard's now-limited range of motion preventing him from recovering quickly enough, caused him to crash down on the battlefield with his tail in the water once again. A flash of light heralded his reversion back from his Y-stage, and Trevor immediately recalled him to prevent the rock's weight from doing further damage.

"So that's what I have to look forward to, huh? Ash mused from up in the stands. "He's sure gotten stronger since the last time we met."

"But you'll have nothing to look forward to if you don't get to your battle on time…" Serena reminded him, unlacing her fingers from his and making a shooing motion. "Remember, you can always see the rest of his battle later."

Ash chuckled. "Right. See you guys in a bit!" Helped along by a weak Notice-Me-Not from Serena, he discreetly made his way to the end of the aisle and into the hallway, before jogging off to try and not find his way to the battlefield.

* * *

A few moments later, the aspiring Pokémon Master had firmly invoked a paradox of intent. Stretched out ahead of him laid the hallway leading out onto the battlefield, which meant his quest _not_ to find said path had met with failure. However, said failure was actually what he had _wanted_ to happen – which meant that by failing to accomplish what he had tried to, he actually _succeeded_.

So if failure meant success and success meant failure, the question was bound to arise: did he fail, or did he succeed? And honestly, the jury's still out on that one.

Reaching the field _on time_ was a different matter entirely. Via his Aura Perception, Ash was able to sense a vaguely familiar (and semi-hostile) presence lurking just around the corner of the hallway, right where he would need to pass by in order to reach the battlefield. And while he was not nearly as proficient at sensing specific emotions as Serena, he could still make out a combination of focus and resolve that indicated whoever-it-was had no intention of letting anyone past.

"All right, who's there?" he called out challengingly. "And are you even supposed to be here right now?"

"Of course I am!" the other person retorted as he stepped around the corner. "After all, this is the only time and place where I _knew_ I could find you. You promised me a battle next time we met, and I'm going to make sure you keep that promise!"

Now that he had seen his opponent's face, Ash's subconscious was able to narrow down the search in his 'library' of Aura signatures and identify the person in front of him. "Wait, Everett?"

Unfortunately, his confusion only seemed to enrage the red-haired Trainer further. "Oh, look at me!" he mocked. "Just because I have 8 badges and inexplicably know his name, I don't have to take him seriously! Well, who cares about badges? I'm still gonna beat you!" He sent out his Furfrou again, who barked in agreement.

Now, in the former timeline Ash would have been so focused on making it to his battle that he would have missed some of the details of Everett's tirade. In _this_ timeline, however, he had had practice remaining calm(er) in stressful situations and actually _observing_ things, and he quickly realized what was going on and attempted to defuse the situation.

"Sorry – I didn't mean to imply that I thought you were unimportant. I was just distracted, 'cause I'll be disqualified if I don't make it to the field on time. And the whole 'name' thing? Well, it's kinda because my girlfriend's psychic."

Everett was a bit too worked up by this point to listen, though. "C'mon, send out your Pokémon! I'm gonna show you that people can be strong even if they _don't_ have 8 badges! And until you beat me, you're not getting past. Not unless you can be in two places at once!"

For most other Trainers, this bit of trash-talk would have pushed them over the edge. But for someone who had *actually* been in two places at once just that morning and regularly came up with off-the-wall strategies, it gave him inspiration instead. Placing his hands together, he began channeling Aura to the space beside him in an attempt to replicate the phenomenon he had witnessed.

'Priming the technique,' so to speak, by positioning his fingers in the shape of two pistols (not that he knew what those were; it just seemed a fitting representation of that step).

Fingers interlocked, his clasped hands now representing the mass of formless energy hovering next to him. Oddly enough, though, it did not appear to have the standard blue glow that normally arises when Aura takes on a corporeal form.

Channeling the Aura into the correct shape, signified by steepling his index fingers as he changed the shape of the projection in a controlled fashion.

As he did so, disjointed images of a Gogoat, Zygarde's 50% Forme, and Entei respectively appeared briefly in his mind's eye, but he ignored them in favor of maintaining control.

While these actions appeared (to him) to require time on the order of ten seconds apiece, from Everett's perspective Ash was able to flash through all three steps in less than two. Almost immediately afterwards, an exact duplicate of Ash appeared next to him and saluted cheekily.

"Hey there, Boss. I'm guessing you want me to stay here and battle this guy while you make sure you're not late to the party?"

Ash's brow furrowed. "Actually, I was going to send you on up ahead while I battled Everett."

His clone snickered and slapped him on the back. "I knew that already – I'm you, remember? I just wanted to mess with ya."

Everett's jaw slackened. "Wha… How did… I didn't mean that 'two places at once' thing literally – what did you just _do_?"

Ash #2 grinned at him. "He just created himself an Aura Avatar (or _nami no bunshin_ , if you think that sounds cooler), and so now he can battle you and still get to his match on time!" He then frowned in thought. "Or is it my match? This whole 'shared identity' thing is kinda confusing…"

Shrugging his shoulders, he moved a foot back slightly and dropped into an aggressive stance. "Either way, we're not gonna lose our shot at victory by not having enough time to reach the arena. Pikachu, Quick Attack!"

Pikachu, who had ignored what was going on behind him in favor of watching the Furfrou for possible dirty tricks, heard his Trainer's voice ordering an attack and responded instinctually. In the blink of an eye, he crossed the distance between himself and the Poodle Pokémon, and only a last-second Cotton Guard kept him from critically damaging his opponent.

Everett's former mindset returned to him when he heard his Furfrou yelp in distress. "This is exactly what I was waiting for – Furfrou, Giga Impact!"

As the Kabuki-trimmed canine charged forward surrounded by purple and yellow energy, Ash sweatdropped. _I thought I was the one who was supposed to be battling… Oh well, as long as the doppelgänger thing worked like it was supposed to, that may as well actually be me there._ He jogged along the curve of the wall to get past the combat zone, absently noting that his foot landed on the face of Trevor's knocked-out Aerodactyl (or at least its image on the TV).

The orange-haired Trainer quickly sent out his last Pokémon, and Ash quickened his pace. Fairy-type Trevor's Florges might be, but against an enemy used to battling near the level of the Elite Four, its immunity to Dragon-type moves would do little to even the playing field.

And sure enough, within 45 more seconds he received a memory from Serena of Florges falling and Alain being declared the victor. Accompanying it was a very strong sense of _you better not have gotten lost_ , mixed slightly with an inquisitive _should I be concerned about what's happening to you right now?_

 _Do you really trust me that little?_ he sent back, amused. _I ran into that guy Everett from yesterday and left myself behind to battle him so that I could make it to the field on time – and a good thing, too. It looks like I would have been late if I had stayed behind…_

 _And do_ _ **you**_ _have any idea how confusing you sound right now?_ Serena asked in return as Alain and Trevor left the battlefield. _If I didn't know better, I would probably say something like "if I didn't know better, I'd think you said you were in two places at once," but after this morning I get the feeling that's more likely than not what actually happened…_

Ash walked out of the hallway into the Trainer's Box, grinning dorkishly in the direction of his friends' seats. _You know me so well._ Half a second later, his mind felt as if information was being forcibly jammed inside, and he blinked reflexively.

* * *

 _"For my sake… and for all the others who were unable to compete… you'd better be the one that wins this thing!"_

 _Reaching out and placing a hand reassuringly on Everett's shoulder as Pikachu scampered off to find him. "Don't think that just because you failed this time it means you're not a strong Trainer. If I didn't already have five other Leagues' worth of experience at failing behind my belt, you probably would have given me a real run for my money."_

 _Grinning as an idea came to him. "Besides, remember what I said yesterday when Malva was interviewing me? You may not be a kid, but that doesn't mean you can't use that advice. Never lose that desire, that drive to surpass your limits – if you fail, just get back up and try again, dattebayo!"_

 _Clapping his hands together excitedly. "Now, you wanna see a magic trick? I'm gonna make myself disappear!"_

 _Channeling his temporary Aura pool into the shape of a Bone Rush staff, bringing himself below critical energy._

 _Passing the Aura staff down past his body as it vanished from the head down, so that it appeared as if the staff itself was erasing him from existence._

 _Triumphantly recognizing the look of shock on Everett's face just before his form completely reverted to Aura and reunited with himself elsewhere._

* * *

Pikachu jumped up onto his shoulder. _"You okay, Pikapi?_ "

"Yeah, I'm fine." Ash shook his head to clear it. "I just found out why trying to be in two places at once that way isn't necessarily the best idea – now I have that other me's memories too. You good to go for this fight, or do you wanna sit this one out?"

 _"I think I'll let the new guys have their turn."_ Pikachu answered as the announcer finished his spiel and their opponent Titus sent out an Altaria.

"Alright then, buddy. Give me a number from one to four."

 _"Um, two?"_

Ash reached down to his belt and removed the second Pokéball from the front (Pikachu's and Charizard's occupying the back two slots). "Number two it is, then. Greninja, I choose you!"

Titus wasted no time calling for a Dragon Pulse attack, and the aquatic shinobi decided to test its strength by standing his ground. Crossing his arms, he leaned forward into the barrage of draconic energy – then rapidly opened them once again to divert it around him once he had accurately gauged its power. In retaliation, Titus ordered a follow-up Draco Meteor.

 _That could be a problem if it manages to hit me._ Greninja told Ash as the meteor ascended. _You think we should show off already, or rely on luck?_

 _I've got a better idea. It may sound stupid, but just trust me._

 _All right – you're the Trainer._ The Draco Meteor reached its peak and ruptured, sending fragments falling to the ground all over the field (but concentrated in Greninja's vicinity).

"Alright, Greninja! Give that Altaria your best Baby-Doll Eyes!"

Greninja sighed. _"This is so humiliating."_ Clasping his hands under his chin, he widened his eyes as much as he could and stuck out his lower lip in a pout. To add to the effect, he even channeled a bit of water to his eyes to make them glisten as if with unshed tears.

The Draco Meteors impacted immediately afterwards.

"Good luck surviving that!" Titus called from the other side of the field. "Not even Wulfric's Abomasnow was able to get past it, so your Greninja is probably toast by now!"

The dust cleared, revealing an unscathed Greninja, and the crowd immediately went into an uproar trying to figure out what had happened.

"Hold on, what was that?" Kazuto questioned with his eyebrow raised. "How did he tank an _entire meteor shower_ without even a scratch?"

* * *

Clemont adjusted his glasses, the sunlight glinting off them as he did so. "I think it has to do with his Greninja's Protean Ability. Since Baby-Doll Eyes is considered a Fairy-type move, Ash was able to exploit the Fairy-type's immunity to Dragon-type attacks. It does mean he has one fewer legally-allowed move for this battle, though, so it's still a trade-off."

 _"I still call hax."_ Genos rumbled, jewel blinking as it pulled itself far enough out of its sheath to see past Kazuto's shoulder. _"And yes, I did just use modern gamer terminology. I thought it appropriate, considering Master is a gamer himself."_

It was then that Greninja whipped his hands out from behind his back, revealing that he had used his immunity to somehow _catch_ one of the meteors without it discharging its energy. He then threw it back at the stunned Altaria, Protean allowing him to channel even _more_ dragon energy into the stone now that he was temporarily a Dragon-type.

As Altaria was hit for six, Genos piped up again. _"See? Hax."_ Nobody who could understand deigned to disagree.

* * *

Omake: Fate/Sword Tuesday, Part III

* * *

When they first ran into Ilyasviel von Einzbern, Kirito nearly mistook her for Yui – having forgotten that the two had almost identical voices in this Route. The only reason he didn't was that Yui herself had taken the place of Archer (with the excuse that Shirou had to learn how to Project swords from _somewhere_ ).

And he was perfectly willing to overlook the fact that his daughter had somehow _hacked the Throne of Heroes_ in favor of being glad he could spend time with her trying to be a proper dad. Speaking of dads, though…

"I see you've finally summoned your Servant, onii-san." Illya said in an unnervingly chipper voice. "So what if he looks like otou-san – there's no way he can stand against Berserker!"

"…Are you sure you don't need glasses, Illya?" Kirito snarked. "The only thing I have in common with your dad is the black hair and black outfit. I doubt the acclaimed Magus Killer ever used a sword, either."

"Besides, he's _my_ daddy!" Yui interrupted, emerging from her Invisibility Cloak right next to Illya. "And I won't let you hurt my daddy just because yours hurt you emotionally!"

The Einzbern heir backpedaled into Herakles' range of motion. "Wait, you – you sound like… he's _your_ otou-san... how did you know about that?"

Yui looked at her soberly, compassion evident in her features. "Your actions match the behavioral patterns of someone who holds a grudge for a perceived slight, especially one exacerbated by authority figures in said person's life. And based on your reaction to Daddy, I'm guessing you think he abandoned you for my Master, Mr. Shirou. My diagnosis is that you sit down and talk with him about your daddy in order to correct any misconceptions and thus achieve catharsis."

As Rin and Shirou struggled to comprehend why Yui sounded like she had swallowed a psychological education textbook, Illya realized exactly what Yui had said. "Hold on – _you're_ onii-san's Servant? _And_ Saber is your otou-san?"

Yui grinned disarmingly. "Yup! Servant Archer, at your service! I can also turn into a fairy – watch!" She shifted to her Navi Pixie form, only to find out that she was still at her full size. Oddly enough, a medallion shaped like a ringed gold star with wings was now fluttering around her head babbling about 'magical girl powers' and 'class cards.'

At that moment, Rin Tohsaka decided that she _really_ needed a vacation.


	4. Chapter 4

**.**

 **A/N: I apologize for any historical physicist whose legacy gets butchered for the sake of narrative humor.**

* * *

The next two rounds of the League tournament went much the same as the first. Rookie vs. rookie matchups were still anyone's game, especially since many of them were relying on Mega Evolution as their trump card – to the point that they had somewhat neglected the rest of their team in favor of said Mega Evolution. Alain could get away with it, since he had several years' worth of study under Professor Sycamore and then his experience from working with Lysandre backing him up, but he was one of the few exceptions to that rule.

Ash, on the other hand, had five-and-three-quarters Leagues under his belt (counting the Battle Frontier as half and the Orange Islands as another quarter) AND a battling style some in the audience dubbed "fighting by the seat of his pants."

Those audience members _may_ have been off-duty airline pilots, but that's not important right now.

In other words, he had a knack for reading the battle as it was in the moment and choosing the most apt course of action, no matter how unpredictable it made him. It was a different kind of 'reading the battle' and unpredictability than Sawyer and Tierno's styles, though; Tierno fought with a much more structured randomness (if that even makes sense), and Sawyer leaned more heavily on strategy than tactics. But all things considered, not much could be considered an obstacle for the Trainer from Pall–

 ** _Hold on a moment._**

*sigh* What is it _this_ time?

 ** _I get how 'structured randomness' works – I even designed it into the universe – but how exactly is strategy different from tactics? I've been too busy doing, um… important things… to watch the humans too closely, and aside from that time travel jaunt in Sinnoh and the Hoopa fiasco several months back I haven't really had the need to._**

Right. You were _busy doing important things_ , and yet you were still bored enough to tie up time into a knot so you could eavesdrop on a phone conversation?

 ** _That WAS important! You wouldn't have had a story without it!_**

Excuses, excuses. Anyway, strategy is more behind-the-frontlines big-picture planning, whereas tactics is the sort of in-the-moment what-are-my-immediate-objectives, often much more subject to change than the strategy behind them.

Of course, tactics without strategy (or even using neither) is also possible – and it's why complete amateurs can sometimes hold their own against experts in PvP games: the experts are used to facing opponents who think in strategic or metagame terms, and so their performance suffers against players who completely ignore those concepts. This rarely lasts long in real life, though, especially if the match drags on long enough for the expert to adapt.

Which is why Plot Armor is such a great thing for improvisational tacticians to have. Granted, some of Ash's had been forged through a process called Character Development, but it was still plot armor nonetheless. As such, it was no surprise to the more genre-savvy of his friends (AKA Kazuto) that his match against Astrid wound up with a winded Mega Absol facing his own freshly-released Hawlucha.

Astrid grinned, remembering the last time she had been in this exact matchup. "You think you can actually take us this time? If I remember correctly, my Mega Absol beat your Hawlucha pretty quickly last time – and we've only gotten stronger since!"

Ash pumped his fist. "Well, so have we! Hawlucha, let's start this off with a High Jump Kick!"

"Blow him off course with a Dark Pulse!" Astrid countered as Hawlucha began to descend. The Disaster Pokémon obliged, sending out a stream of purple rings on an intersecting path. If nothing changed, the wrestler would now either be knocked away by the Dark-type energy, damaged by the resultant explosion when it collided with his High Jump Kick, or both.

Ash reacted instinctively. "Open your left wing, then turn around and glide forward!" Hawlucha, trusting his Trainer, followed the instructions and soon found himself headed back towards the ascending pillar of energy – only this time at a much lower relative velocity.

"All right, now High Jump Kick that Dark Pulse and close your wings!"

Astrid lost her train of thought, having not expected Ash to target Absol's attack instead of the Pokémon itself. "How the heck does he expect that to work?" she mumbled to herself, forgetting the Psycho Cut she was about to order.

She was soon answered by the very explosion she had expected earlier – only now, instead of disrupting Hawlucha's controlled descent, it had launched him on a ballistic trajectory _towards_ Mega Absol.

"Great job, Hawlucha! Now use that momentum for an X-Scissor!"

Astrid quickly recomposed herself. "Stand your ground and counter with Megahorn!" Her Absol responded immediately, the scythe on its head glowing with Bug-type energy as it reared its head up to intercept. The Ace Trainer's hope was that said move would decrease the effectiveness of X-Scissor by absorbing some of its energy in a less damaging fashion.

Which was why it felt like such a letdown when her strategy got slammed into the ground – literally. A random gust of wind that could in no way have possessed any sort of divine origin blew Hawlucha slightly off course, changing his momentum until his velocity was tangent to the tip of Absol's horn. Instead of a head-on collision, then, he ended up jerking the Disaster Pokémon's head back down with enough force that its back feet left the earth. The ensuing rotational motion then caused him to bowl Absol's front feet out from underneath it, resulting in both Pokémon sprawled out on their backs.

Hawlucha, having started the fight with more energy (and being more used to physical collisions) regained his feet first, wincing slightly as a rock dug into his tailfeathers. _"Had enough yet?"_

Mega Absol gave a barking laugh as it stood back up. _"I'm just getting warmed up, old-timer!"_

The wrestler flexed his muscles intimidatingly, shooting off a series of quick jabs at the air. _"Who you calling old, bucko?"_

 _"You."_ the Absol deadpanned, giving its Trainer a meaningful look. After all, if their opponent was giving them a free shot, then why not take it?

Astrid nodded in agreement. "Psycho Cut, Mega Absol!" Her Pokémon immediately shot off the attack at Hawlucha, who had moved on from shadowboxing to squats – and all of a sudden he was no longer there, having turned a squat into a jump.

 _"How's this for spry?"_ he taunted, striking a pose in the air. _"Eat Flying Press!"_

Mega Absol was unable to react in time, and the super effective damage forced it to revert back to its normal form in defeat. _"Who even… uses 'spry' any more…"_ it muttered as Astrid recalled it.

Hawlucha ignored the comment in favor of posing again, this time triumphantly. _"And the underdog triumphs again!"_

 _"And who, exactly, was this 'underdog'?"_ Pikachu snarked from Ash's shoulder. _"From what I could see, you were always attacking from above – and your opponent was much more canine than you."_

Hawlucha sighed. _"Would you_ please _just let me have my moment?"_

"Sorry, Hawlucha, but we've gotta leave the field so Tierno and Sawyer can have their battle." Ash informed him, recalling him to his Pokéball shortly after.

 _"I feel so gypped."_ he grumbled, ignoring the fact that no one could hear him complain. An idea then sparked in his brain, and he stroked his chin in thought. _"Hmm… if I can't pander to my fans afterwards, what if I just make my entrance flashier? Perhaps I should talk to Miss Paschall – she's a wonder with needle and thread…"_

* * *

After exchanging a few words with Sawyer, during which he found out that one of Sawyer's Pokémon could Mega-Evolve (he called it a 'secret weapon,' but Kazuto's statement several days before had made that phrase's meaning obvious), Ash rejoined his friends in the stands. Shauna had just sat down next to Serena, and the two were exchanging giggled whispers about how Tierno and Ash were doing. Of course, considering they were teenage girls, the discussion gradually morphed into an interrogation on how Ash and _Serena_ were doing, and Ash tuned it out instinctively.

Which was why he found himself at a loss for words when Serena turned around and asked, "What do you think, Ash?" Granted, the adorable little smile on her face when she asked the question _might_ have contributed to his inability to answer coherently, but it was mostly because he had no idea where their discussion currently was.

As such, he responded in the only way logically possible. "…Huh?"

Ignoring the smirk on Shauna's face and the elbow digging into her ribs, Serena elaborated. "Shauna was wondering how well you thought Tierno would do against Sawyer."

The pink-shirted brunette immediately sputtered in protest. "What do you mean by ' _I_ was wondering'? _You're_ the one who asked him!"

"Because I knew you wouldn't." Serena countered. "You were thinking it so hard you might as well have been broadcasting the thought." _And actually, you kind of were._

Shauna wilted. "Oh, right. I forgot you could do that now. But anyway – what do you think will happen, Ash?"

Ash thought about it for a few seconds. "Hmm… it's kinda hard to say. Tierno's style relies on unpredictability, while Sawyer's style is based around predicting and countering his opponent's strategy. From that point of view, it looks as though Tierno has the advantage.

"On the _other_ hand, though," he continued, "I know thanks to Serena that sticking to a rhythm gives your movements an underlying structure, which can be analyzed and predicted if your opponent has the right know-how. And Sawyer definitely has that – he even came close to beating _me_ once!"

Clemont nodded. "You took the words right out of my mouth. Of course, you _were_ also recovering from that day you got sick and so couldn't properly sustain the Ash-Greninja transformation, but for a rookie he's still an impressive analyst."

Shauna's face grew slightly pinched. "So you're saying either one of them could win?"

This time, it was Ash's turn to nod. "Looks like it. Don't let that stop you from rooting for your friend, though – that little bit of encouragement might be just the edge he needs!"

Kazuto chuckled from the row behind them. "I'm not gonna say who, but I've already got a strong feeling about who's gonna win this battle."

Genos' tassel snaked out to wrap around his neck like a scarf. _Please enlighten me, Master. Your training these past few days has been invaluable, and I wish to understand why you are so confident in your chosen outcome._

A mental sigh. _How many times do I have to tell you, quit it with that whole 'Master' nonsense!_

 _But is that not what you are, Master?_

 _Grr… Whatever. Anyways, I assume you're aware that Ash promised to battle both Alain and Sawyer during this League?_

 _I had drawn that connection, yes._

 _And what normally happens in legends and stories when someone makes a promise like that?_

The Honedge's gem blinked. _In case you have forgotten, Master, I was not awake when those stories of my time were written, and I assume the actual events received embellishment of some sort._

Kazuto resisted the urge to facepalm. _Events conspire to make sure that the protagonist at least has a chance to fulfill that promise. And the only way that's gonna happen is if Sawyer wins._

 _I see. And I assume this 'event conspiracy' takes place around Ash on a regular basis?_

Kazuto was unable to stop the wry grin that forced its way onto his lips. _Let's just put it this way: If he was a C-rank hero, I doubt he'd have any trouble meeting the weekly quota unless the universe decided it would be funnier otherwise._

Genos, completely ignorant of the Hero Association's ranking system, decided to just take its Mast– er, Trainer's word for it. Before the Pokémon could respond, though, it was interrupted by a low whistle from Kazuto.

"Now _that'_ s an impressive sword." he commented aloud as Sawyer's Aegislash took the field. "I think I remember hearing that it's one of Honedge's evolutions, right?"

Clemont nodded. "First they evolve into Doublade – which, as I think you can guess from the name, is two swords instead of one – and then Aegislash, which has a sword and a shield."

An anticipatory smirk appeared on Kazuto's face as the concept of using Dual Blades again took root in his mind.

It then quickly reversed its orientation when he realized he was now being soaked by a (very) local rainshower. He would have blamed the Rain Dance that Tierno's Ludicolo had just performed, except for the fact that said downpour did not extend past the edges of the field. _Hold on, why the heck… gosh dang it Arceus, do you_ _ **have**_ _to keep doing this to me?_

 ** _If you keep delaying the battle scenes with your boring conversations, then yes._**

Thankfully, the author was on Kazuto's side and quickly made Ash and Serena aware of the situation. Using the same 'bubble of air with a stagnant surface' technique from their escapade with Jimmy (reinforced with Aura to prevent the water from filtering through the layer of air), they managed to relocate the stray cloud to an empty corner of the battlefield.

 ** _Party poopers. And where are all the deviations from canon I was expecting? This is basically just a canon rehash with added commentary from a crossover character!_**

…So you're saying Ash _not_ using the Ash-Greninja transformation against Altaria in the first round is a canon rehash? And Alain actually being willing to talk to Professor Sycamore again (not that you've _let_ him)? And what about – HEY, what did you just do?

 ** _What? I didn't do anything. Why would you think I did anything? It's not like I… *sigh* Fine, I teleported the raincloud back onto the field for them._**

If that's all you did, then why were you trying to hide… it… _oh_ , you wanted to stall until it was too late to keep it from destabilizing, didn't you?

 ** _Ask me no questions, and I'll tell you no lies._**

The sphere full of water burst, sending a forceful downpour onto the Pokémon beneath it. Fortunately for Sawyer, as it turned out, because it pushed his Aegislash mostly out of the path of Ludicolo's Hydro Pump attack. _Swift Swim, huh?_ the green-haired rookie mused. _Getting two boosts out of one move is a pretty impressive strategy. I better make sure every hit counts, then._ "Aegislash, use Swords Dance one more time!"

A ring of illusory blades appeared around the Royal Sword Pokémon, spinning rapidly as they converged on its location – and were then scattered by yet _another_ Hydro Pump. Sawyer's grip on his notebook tightened, but he did his best to stay calm. _I think I see what he's doing now. Every time I try to attack, he's going to use the extra speed to his advantage and attack me first. Well then, let's just see how he handles my next move!_

As soon as Tierno heard Sawyer beginning to give an instruction, he ordered Ludicolo to use Hydro Pump once more. With the damage Aegislash had suffered by taking partial hits from two boosted attacks, he was sure a direct hit would end the match. His opponent, however, did not seem to share his mindset.

"King's Shield!" Sawyer finished, hoping that his prediction would be correct and that Tierno would ignore his words in order to get in a preemptive strike. Aegislash immediately sheathed itself in the scabbard attached to its shield, and a barrier of hexagons appeared in front of it. Oddly enough, though, their color appeared to have changed from the standard Aura-blue to an intense shade of purple, with illegibly small writing scrawled on their surfaces.

Everybody watching who had observed an Aegislash fight before (which, in their group, was just Trevor) was understandably confused. "That move doesn't usually look like that…" he said, almost forgetting to take a snapshot to document said irregularity. "I wonder why…"

Shauna _humm_ ed in thought. "Maybe it's one of those regional variants I've been hearing rumors about recently or something like that. But either way, it's still an impressive move – I hope Tierno can figure out how to counter it, or else he's probably going to lose."

Sure enough, Ludicolo's Hydro Pump had been stopped dead in its tracks, and Tierno was only just registering what had happened.

"Now, while he's off guard – Sacred Sword!" Sawyer ordered, drawing a grinding noise of affirmation from the Royal Sword Pokémon. It unsheathed itself, blade glowing teal-blue, and slashed at its opponent with the blurring speed of a Sonic Leap.

You know the funny thing about stereotypes? While they do have the capacity to cause large amounts of damage (and/or garner a few laughs from their portrayal), they don't hold up too well when exposed to the pressures of reality. One or two well-aimed ripostes is all it takes to undercut it and remove it from the playing field.

Too bad for Tierno that his Ludicolo was a walking stereotype of Mexican culture.

 ** _Okay, so maybe I was spying on your dimension for inspiration when I created Ludicolo – but that doesn't mean you need to passive-aggressively attack me about it…_**

I have no idea _what_ you're talking about. Anyway, with Ludicolo out of the picture, Tierno decided to call out his Raichu next.

Before he ordered an attack, though, he looked over at Sawyer's side of the field and smirked. "You just made a big mistake. You know what that was?"

Sawyer, always ready to expand his knowledge, wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth. "No, what was it?"

Tierno blurred through a set of dance steps so fast it left a few members of the audience dizzy. "You threw off my groove, and I don't take too kindly to people who throw off my groove."

Raichu nodded in agreement, having disguised her approach by pretending to be simply mirroring Tierno's moves. _"I'm sorry, but you've thrown off the Emperor's groove."_ She detonated a Focus Blast above Aegislash's hilt, driving the blade downwards into the ground.

As she followed up with a Dig attack, hitting Aegislash for super-effective damage while it was immobilized, Sawyer almost _swore_ he could hear his Pokémon yelling _"Sooooooorrrrrryyyyyy!"_ in an elderly voice before falling unconscious.

Shaking it off, he nodded. "Not a bad strategy. By letting your Raichu act independently, you managed to pull off a sneak attack and nullify the advantage I had set up. But what are you gonna do when I turn that independence around against you? Slurpuff, come out and use Attract!"

Raichu, who was climbing up out of the hole when he said that, stiffened slightly in shock and turned to look at the new arrival. When she saw its feminine appearance, she relaxed slightly – but that turned out to be her undoing. After all, just because it _looks_ female doesn't mean it _is_ female (at least not for a species based on a dessert that has no gender-distinguishing characteristics or ninja with ice manipulation abilities, but I digress).

"Snap out of it, Raichu!" Tierno ordered frantically, trying to draw the lovestruck lagomorph's attention back to the battle. His instructions were all for naught, though; even when Sawyer ordered an Energy Ball, Raichu continued grinning goofily at Slurpuff.

 _"Take THIS!"_ the Meringue Pokémon yelled as he launched off the Grass-type attack. Raichu, in her confusion, misunderstood.

 _"Oh, for me? You shouldn't have…"_ As the pretty ball of sparkles came closer and closer to her, she opened her arms wide to catch her sweetie's gift. And catch the attack she did – the full force of the sphere's rupture exerted itself on her face, launching her backwards. _"Hehehe… that was fun! You always give me the best presents…"_

"Raichu, come on back for now! Blastoise, time to show 'em your moves!" Tierno called, his actions mirroring his words.

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Sawyer countered. "Slurpuff, use Attract again!"

Said attack did absolutely nothing to Tierno's rapidly-rotating reptile, and Sawyer facepalmed. "Right, I forgot about the male-to-female ratio of the traditional starter Pokémon. I guess it _was_ broke, after all."

A Hydro Cannon from Blastoise then knocked out Slurpuff, drawing another wince. "And I really ought to quit monologuing to myself when I'm trying to keep my opponent off balance. Sceptile, it's your turn!"

Tierno chuckled. "Grass against water, huh? Too bad we've got a counter for that – Blastoise, Ice Beam!"

Sawyer quickly ran through the list of moves his Sceptile knew and chose what he thought would be the most strategic response. "Keep it at a distance with Leaf Storm, then try and get in close for a Leaf Blade!"

The Ice Beam struck the leading edge of the whirlwind and froze it solid, the increased base energy of the Grass-type attack just able to overcome Ice Beam's type advantage and cancel it out harmlessly. Without a chance to "recharge" the lost energy, though, the same technique would not work twice – which was why Sawyer had ordered Sceptile to close in on Blastoise, trusting its speed to make it hard to hit.

Tierno, forgetting that his Blastoise was _built_ to weather close-range hits, ordered a Hydro Cannon in retaliation, with the same goal of keeping the super-effective attack at a distance.

As Blastoise tracked his evasive opponent with his cannons, Sawyer (ever sportsmanlike) decided to remind Tierno of that fact. "You know, that's not necessarily the most effective strategy for Blastoise's defense – I've seen you use a more effective move than that. Sceptile, close in with a spiral!"

The Forest Pokémon immediately started (literally) running circles around Blastoise as he moved in, causing the turtle to spin in place in an attempt to keep up. A couple of seconds later, something _click_ ed in Tierno's mind and he grinned. "The closer Sceptile gets, the faster Blastoise has to spin, right? Well, let's see if you can keep up with our Rapid Spin attack!"

Blastoise immediately retracted into his shell and blurred into motion, and Sawyer (ever pragmatic) decided to exploit the opening he had been given. "Now, spin him even faster! Leaf Storm in the same direction!"

Tierno blinked in confusion. "What's that supposed to do, make Blastoise dizzy? Sorry, but with all the dance practice we've done, that's not gonna work."

His question was soon answered when Blastoise began rising into the air, the updrafts from the rotating Leaf Storm lifting him off the ground and greatly reducing his maneuverability.

"That." Sawyer told him smugly. "With the way the leaves are spinning around him, he can't stop his motion without getting hit, so he can't escape. And if you _do_ manage to stop the vortex, he's got nowhere to go but straight down."

Tierno growled in frustration, but refused to surrender. "Oh yeah? Your Sceptile can't keep up that Leaf Storm forever, and when it stops he'll be a sitting Ducklett for a high-powered Ice Beam!"

"Who said I _needed_ to keep it up forever?" Sawyer countered. At Tierno's puzzled look, he clipped his pen to the bookmark of his notebook and began spinning it in a vertical circle. "Why do you think the pen isn't falling when it gets to the top?" he asked, causing Tierno's eyes to widen in realization.

At almost the exact same time, Blastoise's rotation reached a high enough speed that it could no longer keep its arms and legs inside its shell – dragging them out into the path of the cyclone of leaves. (And as everyone with rudimentary physics knowledge knows, you spin slower with your arms extended than when you have them tucked in. Something to do with a lawyer-knight that people named a fig-flavored pastry after, or something like that. Oh yeah, he also discovered gravity.)

The Leaf Storm, on the other hand, had not experienced a change in moment-of-inertia, and so continued rotating at a higher speed. This meant that when the individual leaves hit Blastoise on his unprotected limbs, they had enough relative velocity to actually deal damage and sap his energy.

Blastoise attempted to minimize the damage by retracting his limbs again, but he made the unfortunate mistake of trying to pull them in one by one. While it did decrease the surface area exposed to the leaves, it also disturbed the symmetry of the airflow and destabilized the vortex, tossing him around and eventually flinging him outwards.

As Tierno's partner plummeted, the portly Pokémon pugilist was in a painful predicament. He could only implement one improvisation before the imminent immobilizing impact, so it was important that he not be indecisive – but the author's alliteration addiction was assiduously antithetical to any attempts at analysis.

 ** _Now who's messing with people's lives just for kicks?_**

Shut up. Anyway, he decided that the power boost from a sufficiently strong electric attack (taking into account both STAB and type resistance) would be more effective in the long run than trying to hit Sceptile with an Ice Beam, and so ordered Blastoise to use Rain Dance while falling. As the massive turtle crashed into the ground, rain clouds once again gathered over the battlefield and shrouded it in darkness.

Unfortunately for him, Sawyer cottoned on to his plan relatively quickly. _Why would he set up Rain Dance for his Raichu, unless… Wait, that's it! He's planning on using the accuracy boost to hit Sceptile with a powered-up Thunder attack! Well, let's see how he likes this little trick…_

Closing his notebook, he brushed his finger up against the Key Stone clipped to its spine. "The more we battle together, the stronger our experience makes us. Sceptile, Mega Evolve!"

A blaze of light surrounded Sceptile as Raichu's Thunder crashed down, kicking up a cloud of dust and highlighting the Grass-type's silhouette. That was the worst it did, though; once the air returned to a neutral charge, Sceptile was revealed to be unscathed by the attack.

 _"Thanks for the power-up!"_ he told Raichu, waving cheekily. _"Lightningrod is great."_

Tierno growled. "If Electric-type attacks won't work, we'll just have to go with the next best thing. Focus Blast, Raichu!"

"Deflect it with Dragon Claw, and let's finish this!"

As Raichu generated the orb of Fighting-type energy, Sceptile's claws were enveloped by blades of translucent green, his recently-gained Dragon typing boosting their power. Against a powered-up physical attack like that, a glass cannon such as Raichu stood next to no chance.

* * *

 _Told you._ Kazuto thought smugly, slouching back in his seat. _How much you willing to bet the next round is Ash versus Sawyer?_

Genos hummed softly before responding. _Based on your reasoning, I would be a fool to bet against that matchup, Master. After all, if Ash is to fight both Sawyer and Alain, the only other possibility would be if Sawyer faced Remo and won – which, based on the battles we've seen, would fly in the face of probability._

Kazuto snapped his fingers in disappointment as the screen changed to show the matchup he had predicted. _Darn it. I missed out on a chance to win that bet._

 _What would you have won from me anyway?_ Genos thought in amusement. _I am already your disciple; I doubt I could have offered anything else._

Kazuto sighed. _…Fair point. Maybe I could have gotten you to stop calling me 'master'?_

Before Genos could respond again, Bonnie ran over and tugged on Kazuto's sleeve. "Come on, we're gonna go pick up Ash's Goodra together! You should totally come with us!"

Chuckling at her enthusiasm, the swordsman hoisted himself out of his seat to a symphony of cracking joints. "It's not like I really have a choice, do I? I still don't know my way around yet, and even if Ash _does_ tend to get lost he's bound to find the right place eventually. If I _don't_ stick with you guys, who knows what sort of crazy place I might end up in?"

* * *

Omake: Fate/Sword Tuesday, Part IV

* * *

Having Servants who were unable to astralize sucked _big-time_ , Rin Tohsaka decided. The only silver lining was that her own Servant was within their age range, and so was able to attend their school under the guise of a prospective exchange student that she had been tasked with escorting – but since Shirou's Servant looked like a primary-school-age girl, he was unable to come up with a similar excuse.

Which was why it ticked her off beyond _belief_ that he showed up to school anyway, no sign of a Servant in sight. Ignoring the little voice in her head that called him brave for taking the risk, she studiously avoided him all day and berated him mentally for being so _stupid_. But when the loudspeaker announced that clubs had been canceled for the day, she decided to take the opportunity to berate him in person.

His reply shocked her to her core. "But I _do_ have a Servant with me, Tohsaka. Illya insisted on it, and I wouldn't want her to lose her brother the day after we reunited…"

"Well then, wh–"

A scream from outside interrupted them, and they rushed out of the building to find Kirito kneeling over a comatose girl, chanting a series of foreign words as arcane script swirled around him. As he finished his incantation, she coughed and shifted slightly – but little more. "Can you do anything to help her?" he asked Rin, breathing heavily. "That's the strongest healing Spell I know, and it runs off my own HP."

The magus knelt down beside him to assess the situation, only to stiffen in shock when she heard a loud _CLANG_ right next to her ear. A humongous patch of hazy air shimmered between her and the half-visible spike-on-a-chain that was now flying away from her, rapidly reverting to clear once more.

Kirito nodded in understanding, only confusing his Master even further. "Ah, so Yui's with Illya today?"

Shirou returned the nod. "Yep. And now we know for certain that there's another Servant at the school – who else would have a reason to try and kill Rin with a phantasmal weapon?"

His gaze hardened as he looked back at her. "Also, even if I didn't consider you a friend, you're still an ally in this fight. And what kind of a hero of justice would I be if I wasn't willing to protect my friends?" He shifted his eyes upwards. "You can come out now if you want."

Rin finally put two and two together, and her eyes widened in shock as the Servant accompanying Shirou discarded the cloak that made them invisible. "Wait, but – but that's…"

An anticipatory grin appeared on Shirou's face. "Berserker, it's showtime."


	5. Chapter 5

"You know, I'd like to say 'I'd hate to say "I told you so",' but I can't." Kazuto snarked as Remo's Mega Garchomp fell to Alain's Charizard. "Cause it's way too much fun to say it. And by the way, I told you so."

"Yeah, yeah, no need to rub it in…" Tierno grumbled from the next row down. "I guess that means it's up to Ash to avenge Trevor and I."

"Who said anyone was avenging anything?" Ash interjected as he got up to make his way down to the battlefield. "I'm just here to get as far as I can while still having fun!"

Clemont adjusted his glasses, nodding in agreement with the departing Trainer. "Ash is right. It's not always about who beats who (though that can be a big part of it) – sometimes, just participating and pulling off strategies you've been working on with your team is more satisfying than the win itself. And speaking of strategy, Alain's decision to hold off Mega Evolution until after the Draco Meteor attack hit was a pretty smart one."

Kazuto rubbed his chin in thought before grunting his own assent. "Makes sense. Why take double damage from your opponent's strongest hit if you can weather it much more easily without the double-edged powerup?"

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Bonnie fidgeting in her seat. Clemont had pulled out his newest model of SKATES to tinker with them, preventing him from realizing what was going on, so Kazuto tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey, Clemont? About how soon do you think Ash's match is going to start?"

Clemont scratched his scalp with the monkey wrench he was holding. "I think in about ten to fifteen minutes – why?"

"Because it looks like Bonnie needs to go to the bathroom, and I think Serena's too distracted giving Ash a last-minute pep talk to take her."

"I can go with her." A voice interrupted from behind him, and he turned around to see Ash standing in the aisle.

"Wait a minute – didn't you just… isn't she…" Kazuto rubbed his eyes and looked again, but Serena was still in her 'telepathy pose.'

A look of understanding dawned on Ash's face. " _Oh_. The boss is actually still downstairs talking to her. She said she wanted to encourage him a little more _in person_ , if ya know what I mean, so he sent me up to 'transfer over the experience,' dattebayo." He then snickered. "But it'd be a great prank for him to _also_ get the memories of waiting outside a bathroom door for ten minutes, wouldn't ya say?"

Kazuto's jaw opened and closed soundlessly a few times, before he finally gave up and sank back into his chair. "Fine. If I can accept the fact that I now have a self-proclaimed disciple named Genos, I can accept the fact that Ash managed to replicate the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu without having any idea what it even is…"

The Ash clone grinned at him, having ignored his entire speech. "That's the spirit, dattebayo! Now, onward to complete my missions – snatch a smooch from the boss's sweetheart, and lead a lass to the loo!"

As the clone moved away, the stress that Kazuto had pushed away moments before returned full force, and he closed his eyes in an attempt to center himself and maintain his sanity. _Ten more minutes… ten more minutes… ten more minutes…_

 ** _How about a scene break instead?_**

 _Yeah, that'd be… wait, AUGH! Not you agai–_

* * *

 _"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the last semifinal match of the Kalos League!"_ the commentator yelled into the microphone. _"For the first time in years, a rookie has made it to the Top Four! This rookie analyst is really one to watch out for – give it up for Sawyer!"_

A wave of applause swept through the crowd as the green-haired Trainer walked out onto the field. Once it had died down, the announcer spoke up again. _"And as his opponent: the one and only hero of Lumiose City, who took down a berserk Garchomp on live television – Kanto native Ash Ketchum!"_

This time, the applause took longer to die down – but as soon as it did, Ash amplified his voice with Aura and called back to the man, words tinged with confusion. **"Wait a minute, why am I '** ** _the_** **hero' for saving the day** ** _once_** **? Doesn't that superhero with the Blaziken mask do stuff like that all the time? He even saved** ** _me_** **on that day!"**

The announcer began to sweat slightly, casting his mind about for an answer. _"Well, um… er… how many times has he been on TV when he saved the day?"_

Ash shook his head. **"See, that just makes him even** ** _more_** **of a hero – he doesn't do it for the recognition, he does it because it's** ** _the right thing to do_** **."**

In a flash of (literally) divine inspiration [ ** _hey, you have no evidence that I did that!_** ], the announcer decided to sidestep the issue entirely. _"If you don't like the name, you can send us suggestions for next time. But for now, it's time to give the fans the battle that they paid to see! Are you ready to begin?"_

Sawyer nodded. "Ready."

Ash mirrored him. **"Rea-** whoops, forgot my voice was still amplified. I'm ready too."

The referee took over from there. "All right, then – same rules as the other semifinal match. Six Pokémon each; substitutions allowed (though unsportsmanlike exploitation of this rule will result in a penalty); and the battlefield will change after one Trainer loses three Pokémon. Match, begin!"

Sawyer grinned across the field. "You wanna choose first, or should I?"

In response, Ash palmed a Pokéball and enlarged it to full size. Amplifying his voice again, he announced his choice in a fashion that was almost a dead ringer for the announcer. **"AAAAND COMING IN FROM THE RED CORNER: HE'S FAST, HE'S STRONG – BUT MOST OF ALL, HE'S STYLISH! WILL HIS OPPONENT BE ABLE TO OUTLAST HIM AND STEAL HIS TITLE? IIIIIIT'S THE FOREST CHAMPION, HAWLUCHAAAAAAAA!"**

The avian wrestler emerged atop the scoreboard ledge, clad in a colorful mask and cape of spandex, and posed for a couple of seconds before swooping down in front of Ash for a perfect three-point landing. _"Ha-HA! Anyone feel like they can take me on? Well, now's your chance – speak up now, or bask forever in my awesomeness!"_

A Spanish guitar melody accompanied his words, playing up the luchador imagery – but it also confused Ash slightly (though he didn't let it show). _Hey Serena, since when did the outfit you were making him have a soundtrack?_ he asked as Hawlucha tossed away the cape and began posing again.

Her reply was accompanied by a mental giggle. _You know that kid with the guitar that I battled for you when you were sick? He overheard me discussing Hawlucha's costume with him, and decided (and this is a quote here) that 'no arrangement like this should lack proper accompaniment.' So instead of finding you to wish you good luck directly, he ran off, recorded that, and then brought back the recording with a couple of miniature speakers and told me to work it in somehow. I didn't tell you because I wanted it to be a surprise._

 _Well, you succeeded. I wonder who Sawyer's gonna pick to counter him?_

Sawyer answered Ash's question by sending out a Slaking… who immediately started picking its nose.

Hawlucha gasped in exaggerated horror. _"The nerve! I shall have my vengeance for this disrespect – taste my Karate Chop!"_

His attack hit its target dead-on, but Slaking's only response was to pull its finger out of its nose and stick it in its mouth. _"Meh."_

Ash _humm_ ed in thought. "Try it again, but this time with High Jump Kick!" he ordered, closing one eye to observe the auras of both battling Pokémon. From what he could see, Hawlucha's new attack appeared to have left Slaking just above half its original health – but the large ape reacted the exact same way; that is, not at all.

By this point, Hawlucha was getting very annoyed. _"C'mon, it's no fun if you don't fight back!"_

Slaking's eyebrow quirked slightly. _"Do I look like I care?"_

 _"You should! X-Scissor! Karate Chop! Fight back, darn you!"_

Sawyer's reply lifted Hawlucha's spirit slightly. "Slaking, it's time!"

The wrestler jumped back slightly, bracing himself to take his opponent's next hit. His elation was then dashed to pieces when Sawyer ordered his Pokémon to Slack Off, converting stored energy into health, and it quickly replaced itself with anger once again.

 _That's it!_ Ash realized. _He's trying to get Hawlucha and I mad enough that we let our guard down, letting him counterattack for massive damage! In that case, I'll have to be the one to stay calm for Hawlucha's sake._ "Don't let up – keep attacking! The sooner you beat Slaking, the sooner you can fight an opponent you enjoy!"

Hawlucha nodded, channeling his anger into his attacks. _"Take this, you disgrace to straightforward battling!"_ He pummeled the primate's paunch with punches, becoming ever more incensed as it refused to react.

Once Ash judged its health had become low enough, he called out his next order. "All right Hawlucha, jump up into that big tree behind you and use Flying Press from the top – give it everything you've got!"

A surge of satisfaction emanated from Sawyer as Hawlucha began descending, and he closed his notebook. "Slaking, hit him with Counter!" In an impressive display of agility, Slaking leapt to its feet and pulled its fist back, a layer of multi-colored energy shimmering across its coat.

Unfortunately for them, Ash had his own counter prepared. "Now, swing around that branch to give yourself more momentum!"

His instructions confused Sawyer, whose eyebrows furrowed in thought. "Wait a minute, since when does that give you _more_ momentum? Did Ash just make a mistake?"

Hawlucha, on the other hand, was angry enough that he didn't think about whether or not Ash's strategy made sense; if it would allow him to hit harder and win faster so he could face a new opponent, he was all for it. Grabbing the branch as he passed by, he swung in a circle around it above Slaking's head – but instead of giving him extra momentum, all it did was delay his arrival by a few fractions of a second.

That was exactly what Ash was aiming for, though. By the time Hawlucha started swinging, Slaking had already committed to its punch – and so the Counter energy had already dissipated upon Hawlucha's arrival. The Lazy Pokémon then had to deal with two problems at once: one, its center of balance was much higher than usual, making it less able to brace against horizontal momentum; and two, there was an anger-fueled Flying Press aimed right for its face. Combined with its type disadvantage, there was only one way the scenario could logically turn out.

"Slaking is unable to battle; the winner is Hawlucha!"

 _"All right, who's next?"_ Hawlucha asked, cracking his knuckles intimidatingly. _"I came here for a good fight, so by golly I'm gonna have one!"_

Sawyer gave Ash a nod of acknowledgement as he recalled Slaking. "Nice job beating Slaking – I specifically chose him to counter Hawlucha's style. But I guess that's to be expected from an opponent as strong as you. Let's see how well you do against my next Pokémon, though: Aegislash, it's your turn!"

Ash frowned slightly. "You still wanna do this, Hawlucha? You're up against a Ghost-type, so the only move that will affect it is X-Scissor, and it's got that shield move too."

Hawlucha smirked, setting his feet in an aggressive stance. _"Are you kidding? Being the underdog just makes me that much more pumped!"_

"If he doesn't want to switch out, who are we to give up a free victory?" Sawyer stated confidently. "Aegislash, power yourself up with Swords Dance!"

"Quick, intercept with X-Scissor!"

"Block it with your shield, Aegislash! Then follow it up with Sacred Sword!"

As the Royal Sword Pokémon positioned its shield to defend itself, Ash quickly thought back to his own experience using an Aura-based Sacred Sword to see if there was anything he could use to possibly counter the… Fighting-type… that was it! "Hawlucha, use the shield to jump as high as you can!"

Sawyer, having just experienced a loss from a seemingly random tactic, was understandably wary. "Watch out – he might be trying to slam you into the ground like Raichu did, so come in from the side!"

"Nice thought, but that's not what we're doing. Now, Flying Press!"

Hawlucha immediately complied, charging directly at the oncoming blade. And while he would normally have passed harmlessly through the oncoming Ghost-type, his Trainer's gambit relied on the fact that Aegislash had coated itself in a sheath of Fighting-type energy to perform the attack. When that attack collided with the mix of energy types inherent in a Flying Press, it caused a localized explosion of Fighting-type and Flying-type energy – only one of which Aegislash was immune to.

Unfortunately, Hawlucha was not immune to either; in fact, he was extra-vulnerable to Flying-type energy, and so he took the brunt of the damage from the explosion.

 _"Query: Are you ready to surrender now?"_ Aegislash asked impassively as it watched Hawlucha pull himself to his feet.

 _"You kidding? All I need is to hear the roar of my fans, and I'll miraculously gain a second wind!"_ Hawlucha boasted, though the effect was somewhat ruined by how unsteady he was after his landing.

 _"Resigned statement: If that is what you wish to believe, then so be it. Announcement of technique: Strike of the Swellow's Turn!"_

Aegislash blurred in, striking with such speed that a slower opponent would feel as if they were being assaulted from three directions at once. Thanks to his practice dodging swords in Aincrad, Hawlucha was able to deflect the first two strikes – but the third slipped past his defenses and impacted him solidly, sending him rocketing backwards into a tree and out for the count.

"Nice job, Aegislash!" Sawyer complimented as Ash recalled the limp luchador. "I wasn't even aware you _knew_ Aerial Ace until just now."

Aegislash grated out a reply, and Ash was gracious enough to translate. "That's because Aegislash _didn't_ know it until just now. And now that I've been on the other side of learning a new move mid-battle, I can see why other people might get upset about it. By the way, come on out, Talonflame!"

Sawyer glanced a few pages back in his notebook before closing it again and pulling out a pair of Pokéballs. "Take a break for now – I'm gonna need you for someone else. Clawitzer, you're up!"

"Type advantage isn't everything, you know." Ash reminded him as the Water-type took the field. "You can't damage what you can't hit. Talonflame, give yourself a speed boost with Flame Charge!"

"Quick, before it can accelerate! Follow Talonflame into the air with Aqua Jet!" As his Pokémon followed Talonflame into the air, Sawyer grinned. "Since Aqua Jet accelerates faster than Flame Charge, it's a perfect way to counter your speed advantage – plus, it's a Water-type move versus Talonflame's Fire-type."

Ash watched the aerial chase for several seconds, and a grin slowly grew onto his own face. "Maybe so, but you can't just discount us because of that. Talonflame, dive towards those trees in front of you!"

"Follow it down, and don't give it room to maneuver!"

"Turn sideways, NOW!"

Talonflame banked its wings sharply, passing in between the narrow gap between two trunks that Ash had aimed it towards with the precision of a lifelong flier. Clawitzer, on the other hand, did not have that kind of maneuverability, and the massive claw from which it got its name became a hindrance instead of a help.

After all, it's kind of hard to attack someone with a howitzer if it gets stuck between two trees, right? And if that's your primary weapon, you're kind of in trouble.

"Okay, now circle around and hit Clawitzer with Brave Bird while it's stuck!"

With Clawitzer unable to defend or evade, the attack was a direct hit, and Sawyer winced. On the bright side, his Pokémon was no longer trapped – but it had also taken major damage from that attack.

"Before it moves too far, reduce its mobility with Ice Beam!" he ordered, attempting to buy some time to think up a new strategy.

Ash didn't let up, though. "Get rid of that ice and head back in with a Flame Charge!"

"Um, uh… counter it with Aqua Jet – and freeze the front so it doesn't evaporate as fast!" Sawyer responded, flipping through his book in a panic. He was understandably surprised at Ash's next words.

"Wow, I didn't even use that tactic until halfway through my fourth League! You're way ahead of me there." Ash then pumped his fist in anticipation. "Now let me show you another strategy I learned back in Sinnoh. Talonflame, start spinning!"

An enormous cloud of steam exploded upon impact, and the shockwave formed by its rapid change in volume smacked both combatants to the ground _hard_. By the time it dissipated, both Clawitzer and Talonflame were struggling to get to their feet. Unfortunately for Talonflame, though, its maneuverability was greatly reduced when not in the air – and Sawyer took full advantage of that fact. "Water Pulse, now!"

"Disrupt it with a Razor Wind!"

Talonflame immediately complied, lifting up its free wing to send a blade of air rushing towards Clawitzer. Rather than hitting the Water Pulse that had just been launched, though, it skimmed past (thanks to the fact that each combatant had used their right side to attack) and hit Clawitzer directly, resulting in a double-knockout when the Water Pulse hit.

"Well, that wasn't _quite_ what I was going for, but it works anyway." Ash said as he recalled Talonflame. _Let's see… each of us is down two Pokémon, so if I want to try and take advantage of the field again before it switches, my best bet would be…_ "Pikachu, it's your turn!"

"All right, Aegislash! This is what I've been saving you for – let's take out Pikachu so we don't have to worry about him later!"

Ash grinned again. "Since we already know what attacks Aegislash has, it's time to test its defense. Pikachu, start it off with an Electro Ball!"

"Defend with King's Shield!"

 _"Affirmation: Initiating King's Shield defense."_ Sheathing itself behind its shield, Aegislash summoned a barrier of energy between it and the Electro Ball – but, as Ash noted, it _only_ defended against attacks from that direction.

"Hey, buddy! Remember that training exercise that we used with Greninja the day before we got to Snowbelle? It's time we used it in a battle again."

Sawyer's brows scrunched up in thought, and he quickly leafed through his notebook to see if he could figure out what Ash was talking about. His question was soon answered when Pikachu began bounding from tree to tree, firing off an ever-closing web of attacks at Aegislash from all directions.

His eyes lit up in understanding. "Oh, so _that's_ your plan. You're trying to neutralize King's Shield by attacking from multiple sides at once." One of his notes on Ash's strategy caught his eye, and an idea popped into his mind. "The downside of that strategy is that you can't make any one attack too powerful, or else you risk exhausting Pikachu – and we can use that to escape. Aegislash, break free by defending yourself with Swords Dance!"

As the Royal Sword Pokémon charged towards the edge of the shifting electric maze, a ring of semi-illusory swords began rotating around it… and then promptly shattered upon contact with the stream of electricity acting as a containment barrier. It did its job, however; the attack was disrupted long enough that Aegislash escaped with only a glancing blow.

"Okay, now let's make it so he can't use that strategy anymore! Aegislash, use Sacred Sword and cut down the trees!"

Ash gave Sawyer a respectful nod. "Nice move. I'm gonna have to figure out a way to fix that later. But for now…" His eyes swept over the battlefield, and something caught his eye. "Pikachu, get behind Aegislash with Quick Attack and then use Iron Tail to drop a tree onto its shield!"

"Quick – pull your shield in close so he can't do that!"

Aegislash followed its Trainer's instructions, narrowly escaping having its shield pinned by a falling tree. But even that was only a partial victory; at one point, its shield got temporarily stuck in the tree's branches, and in order to escape it had to cut the branches off at the roots.

Ash was unable to think up any new tactics before Aegislash finished demolishing the forest, and Sawyer grinned triumphantly. "What are you gonna do now, Ash? I'm looking forward to seeing what you can come up with."

Ash's reply was short and to the point. "Throw an Electro Ball into the sky, and then charge in with Iron Tail!"

"Trying to attack from two directions at once again? That's not gonna work. Aegislash, back up to one of the fallen trees and use King's Shield at an angle!"

 _"Confirmation: Instructions received. Statement: Implementing new strategy."_

Unfortunately for Sawyer, though, when Aegislash had cut off the branches holding its shield to the tree, it had failed to detect that one of the chunks of wood had actually been _inside_ its attached sheath at the time – and so it was unable to activate Stance Change, resulting its Attack Forme getting hit by two full-strength attacks simultaneously.

 _"Error message: Energy levels below critical. Pre-collapse non-sequitur: the roses smell beautiful today."_ *THUD*

"And that's it!" the referee announced. "Now that Sawyer has lost three Pokémon, there will be a short recess while the field is replaced. And for all of you watching on TV, please enjoy the following messages from this year's League sponsor: Lysandre Labs!"

Up in the stands, Kazuto frowned uncertainly. _They didn't say anything like that during Alain and Remo's battle – so why do something like that now?_

 ** _Because I noticed the chapter was getting a little long for the author's regular update size, and so I decided to take matters into my own hands and shoehorn in a chapter break._**

Hey, you can't do that! This is _my_ story, and _I'm_ the one in charge of when chapters stop!

 ** _Tell that to your previous adaptations. Weren't those chapter breaks enforced by the beginning and end of episodes?_**

Those felt like natural ending points when I was writing, so it was still _me_ deciding.

 ** _Maybe so, but you also didn't have a bored deity with fourth-wall awareness watching over your shoulder those times, did you? (:^P) *PPPPPBBBBBBLBLBLLBLBTTTTTTT*_**

Excuse me while I deal with some technical difficulties. Here's another omake to hold you over. *offscreen* **_OH, YOU ARE SO DEAD!_**

* * *

Omake: fate/Sword Tuesday, Part V

* * *

The next evening, when Shirou was abducted in his sleep by an "unknown" enemy (read: Caster), Yui decided to do the smart thing and call for backup before charging in. To anyone not in the know, though, her method of doing so would have seemed insane; all they would have seen was a school-age girl dressed up in magical-girl cosplay telling a floating star-with-wings to find _another_ schoolgirl so they could meet up.

Yui knew otherwise. With Assassin confined to the Temple staircase, he would stand no chance against Beserker – especially after a series of psychotherapy sessions that enabled him to remain lucid despite his Mad Enhancement. Now, something like that would normally be useless; however, the fact that she was participating in an omake series enabled her to overcome that particular hurdle.

That only left Caster to be dealt with. Unfortunately, she was aware of their battle abilities (thanks to her Scrying technique) and so had brought along her own backup/fiancé: former assassin-for-hire and current school administrator Souichirou Kuzuki, who would have no compunctions about injuring children thanks to his first occupation. And since he was a fully-grown adult trained for combat, he had no trouble incapacitating Illya and restraining Yui.

"So you're the boy's Servant, eh?" Medea purred as she fingered Rule Breaker. "And this war's Saber is your father? I wonder if he would be open to negotiations if you were on my side…" Coming to a quick decision, she nicked the tip of Yui's finger with her crooked dagger.

[ _Unpacking program_ ]

 _Administrator override: shunt files to Virus Sandbox folder._ Yui ordered as Shirou's eyes widened in panic. _Analyze foreign program and build customized firewall._

[ _Attempting to rewrite file_ … **ERROR: Root access denied. You do not have sufficient administrative privileges to modify this data.** ]

[Notification: Firewall complete. Materialize copy into physical object?]

With a thought, Yui confirmed the system message, followed up by tossing the resulting animal-shaped gelatin snack to Herakles as he appeared at the top of the staircase. **"τι κάνει αυτό κάνει?"** he asked curiously, holding it up to examine it.

"It'll keep her from stealing you from Illya!" Yui answered, ignoring Caster's shock at a Beserker sounding _sane_ (much less speaking in her mother language).

As Herakles tipped his head back to swallow the candy, Yui's words finally registered in Medea's brain. "What? But – but how? Rule Breaker is supposed to _cancel_ magic!"

Yui grinned. "I'm a product of technology. Ask Arthur C. Clarke about it sometime."


	6. Chapter 6

**_._**

 ** _All right, here's your chapter back. I did what I was trying to do – for now, at least – so I guess I'll try and hold off on the interruptions._**

*grumbles* You'd _better_. Now, where were we again?

 ** _The field had just been switched out, since the little cereal mascot just lost his third Pokémon._**

I thought you said you would hold off interrupting…

 ** _Hey, you asked a legitimate question._**

It was RHETORICAL. RHE-TOR-I-CAL. Meaning I didn't intend for anyone to _actually_ answer. Besides, the longer I take to get back to narrating, the longer it'll be until you can start watching the tournament again.

 ** _Shutting up now._**

Good. Anyway, as the new field was hoisted into place between the two competitors, Pikachu readied himself to bound back out into combat. Ash stopped him with a gesture, though.

"You've had plenty of League experience already – let's let the newer guys have the limelight for now."

Pikachu gasped in mock horror. _"Who are you, and what have you done with Ash? You actually sound SENSIBLE!"_

His trainer flicked him in the forehead, chuckling. "Cheeky little blighter. Noivern, you're up!"

Sawyer took note and made his own selection. "Salamence, to the field!"

 _"AND THE MATCHUP IS: NOIVERN VERSUS SALAMENCE! WHO WILL COME OUT ON TOP IN THIS DRACONIC DISPUTE?"_ the announcer yelled, causing Ash's Noivern to wilt visibly.

 _"Aww… I wanted to be my announcer so I could yell super-loud at everyone."_

Salamence cocked its head in confusion, sweatdropping. _"Are you okay? You should be more worried about the battle than who's announcing, shouldn't you?"_

 _"Maybe, maybe not."_ Noivern dismissed as he began hovering in the air. _"You know what else I wonder about? People's sweat."_

This only confused Salamence more, and it turned back to Sawyer for guidance. Sawyer, however, had decided to take a leaf out of Ash's book and let Salamence act independently so that Ash couldn't counter its moves that way. (Ash, meanwhile, usually left Noivern to battle for himself because he was never quite sure what fad his Dragon-type was into at the moment – and each new fad shifted its battling style slightly.) Shrugging as well as it could without proper shoulders, the blue dragon returned its attention to Noivern. _"Explain."_

 _"I mean, how many times have you seen someone whose sweat just collects on the back or side of their head in one huge drop? And that always gets me thinking about music…"_

Salamence darted forward in a Dragon Rush to try and catch Noivern off guard, but missed when the purple dragon started bobbing its head and erratically shifting back and forth. _"What is_ _ **up**_ _with you?"_ Salamence shouted in annoyance, turning around for another run.

" _Oh, right – I forgot you couldn't hear the music I was remembering. Here, let me show you. Be warned, though: it's got a heck of a drop."_ A blast of soundwaves erupted from Noivern's massive ears, the bass tones loud enough to set the seats in the audience shaking.

 _"How do you call that_ _ **music**_ _?"_ Salamence protested, barely able to form a coherent thought as its eardrums (and altitude) were assaulted by the sonic barrage. _"It's nothing but screeches and wubs!"_

Noivern sniffed haughtily. _"A non-believer, eh? What kind of fan would I be if I let a comment like that slide? Taste Acrobatics!"_ The stream of wubs cut off, causing Salamence to instinctively relax slightly – only to be hit with the full power of Noivern's swooping tackle.

Now, while this would have normally been the end of the clash, there was one wrinkle that caused it to last longer than intended. In an attempt to block Acrobatics from hitting, Salamence had activated a Protect barrier around itself – but the delay in its reflexes caused the shield not to activate until its opponent was already in contact with it. This caused Noivern to become trapped inside the barrier with Salamence, unable to dodge the Dragon Rush that Salamence decided to perform against him.

His being trapped was a double-edged sword, though. Protect could hold up against all but the strongest of assaults, but when one of the two combatants trapped inside relied heavily on soundwaves to battle, its potential as an echo chamber became clearly displayed.

And Noivern took full advantage of that. Ignoring the discomfort caused by Salamence's half-activated Dragon Rush, he unleashed another Boomburst at full power.

 _"I immediately regret every life choice I ever made."_ Salamence moaned, dropping its Protect and rushing blindly away to escape from the torturous sounds. (As it did, Kazuto instinctively glanced at the ground to see if there were any vomit-covered pumpkin shards – wondering afterwards why he had done so.) Unfortunately, this caused it to charge directly into the ground and knock itself out.

 _"It's still better than suffering that trash he calls 'music'…"_ it muttered woozily as Sawyer recalled it and sent out Slurpuff, whose Dazzling Gleam made short work of the health Noivern had remaining. Ash countered with Goodra, putting Sawyer on his guard. After all, he had never battled against Goodra before – and if Ash was voluntarily sending a Dragon-type out against a Fairy-type, he _had_ to have something up his sleeve.

 _"Hey Ash, can you limit yourself to just three moves this time?"_ the dragon called back, garnering a raised eyebrow in response.

"If you say so… watch out – Flamethrower incoming! Block it with Ice Beam!"

"Now, Fairy Wind while Goodra is stuck in place!"

"Goodra, Bide!" Ash ordered, before glancing over to Sawyer. "And now we know all four of Slurpuff's moves, but you only know two of ours. That means we have an advantage on that front – with as much damage as that Fairy Wind did, only another Dazzling Gleam would be strong enough to counter it once Goodra releases his Bide."

After all, the experience gap between the two of them meant that he could afford to help the Trainer of Greninja's rival without jeopardizing his own victory. Unlike himself at that age, Sawyer was ready and willing to take any advice veteran Trainers were willing to offer him, which meant he already had a head-start on Ash. And in that case, then why not help a promising rookie reach his potential faster?

Which was why he was surprised when Sawyer grinned back at him triumphantly. "Thanks for the advice, but there's something you're forgetting yourself. The reason Trainers are limited to four moves per Pokémon per battle is because the League Association wanted to create a competitive balance – not because they can only remember four moves at a time. Which is why Slurpuff won't be using Energy Ball this time. Now, Cotton Guard!"

Ash chuckled mareepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Oh yeah. Not sure how that slipped my mind, especially since he used Attract last time too. Well, if long range attacks won't work… Goodra, Dragon Pulse!" As the dragon turned his head to look at him questioningly, Ash surreptitiously pointed down and then mimed squashing a pancake.

That let Goodra understand what his Trainer was planning, and he launched himself into the air with Dragon Pulse. Sawyer's eyes immediately widened, and he started panicking slightly. None of the scenarios he had prepared for included a flying Goodra – and those few seconds of indecision lost him the bout. While the Dragon Pokémon was falling, his tail lit up with a metallic sheen (a technique Keanan had suggested he learn to deal with Ice- or Fairy-types) and smashed into Slurpuff with the force of a descending 300-pound blob of goo.

Needless to say, Slurpuff was down for the count.

 ** _But you're saying it anyway._**

*AHEM*

 ** _Right – turn of phrase, interruptions, and all that. Sorry._**

"You're my last shot at this, Sceptile. Let's do our best!" Sawyer called out, summoning his Grass-type to the field.

Upon seeing Sceptile's face fall slightly, Ash called Goodra back over. "I get the feeling he wants to battle Greninja while still fresh, so why don't you sit this one out for now? You've done great already, and there's still the battle against Alain tomorrow."

Goodra glanced back at Sceptile and nodded, lumbering over to sit on the edge of the Trainer's Platform.

 _"I don't think he meant 'sit it out' quite so literally."_ Greninja snarked as he came out. _"So. We meet again, Sceptile."_

The Grass-type acknowledged him with a nod, beginning to slowly stalk in a circle. _"My powers have grown since we last met. You won't find me as easy a defeat as last time."_

 _"What a surprise – so have mine."_ Greninja deadpanned, nonchalantly maintaining his distance. _"I'm guessing that kerchief is where you keep your Mega Stone?"_

In response, Sceptile slid the cloth up his neck until it covered his face. _"An astute guess. But you know, this field ain't big enough to hold us both. Only one of us can win today."_

Greninja shrugged, forming a six-pointed Water Shuriken and slapping it on his chest. _"There. I'm the sheriff, so I beat the outlaw by default. You lose."_

As he said that, Sceptile stopped a quarter of the way around the field from his starting position, hands dangling near his thighs as he flexed them menacingly. _"Well now – we'll just have to find that out, won't we?"_

An electric tumbleweed bounced across the desert between them, courtesy of Pikachu, and Sceptile tossed a single Bullet Seed into the air. Both combatants' eyes tracked it closely as it descended, though Sceptile noticed Sawyer crossing his arms in an X-shape out of the corner of his eye and gave the slightest of nods in acknowledgement.

And then: impact. Greninja immediately formed a brace of Water Shuriken in his hands and launched them at Sceptile, only for them to be shredded by a Dragon Claw.

"I knew Greninja would be quicker on the draw, so I figured our best bet would be to start with defense." Sawyer explained, grinning. "And now it's our turn to go on the offensive. Sceptile, Frenzy Plant!"

"Confuse him with Double Team!" A burst of smoke appeared around Greninja, and then half a dozen copies of Greninja split off in different directions – though one was displaying considerably more agility than the others, and the other five were lacking the shuriken badge.

"Focus on that one!" Sawyer ordered, causing Sceptile's plants to home in on the ninja frog fast enough that it couldn't escape. The roots collided with Greninja, resulting in another burst of smoke.

Unfortunately for him, that was _all_ that resulted. Greninja, in a gambit to lower Sawyer's guard, had deliberately blended in with his swarm of Double Team clones and sent one out to act as a decoy, allowing him to escape from the Frenzy Plant unscathed.

"Aerial Ace, now!"

"Block with Leaf Blade, Sceptile!"

The Grass-type was able to halt Greninja's arms with the blades on his wrists, and he narrowed his eyes in a way that suggested he was smirking beneath his mask. _"Told you I wouldn't go down so easily."_

 _"Oh really? Can you tell me why using Aerial Ace is similar to playing baseball?"_ Greninja responded, increasing the pressure.

Sceptile was confused by the apparent non-sequitur, but made sure to keep up the blade-lock. _"Enlighten me."_

 _"You get three strikes before you're out."_

Using his free foot, Greninja kicked Sceptile in the stomach and sent him flying backwards. He then leaped back himself to evade any potential counterattacks.

"You're just as strong as always, Ash." Sawyer complimented, removing the Key Stone bookmark from his strategy book and setting the book down behind him. "Now let's see how far I can get when Sceptile and I are at our strongest. Sceptile, Mega Evolve!"

As Sceptile began to transform, Greninja sent a message across the Bond. _If they're going all out, do you think I should too? It feels like it'd be rude not to…_

 _…but on the other hand, it feels kind of like overkill?_ Ash finished for him. _In that case, let's go with the transformation – but I'll still give you orders out loud, to give him a chance to counter. And if he_ _ **does**_ _manage to beat you… well, Pikachu's still fresh, and Goodra still has plenty of stamina left._

 _Hai, Sensei._ The customary water cyclone appeared briefly around Greninja, and his appearance shifted to match Ash's. Grabbing the giant Water Shuriken off his back, he twirled it around in a flashy display of skill before replacing it again.

 _"Showoff."_ Sceptile commented as he stood there with his arms folded. His scathing tone was mixed with respect, though, and Greninja picked up on that.

 _"Why, thank you."_ he responded cheekily, placing his palm to his fist and bowing. He then swept his hand in a grandiose manner at the field in front of him. _"Your move."_

"Let's start this off with another Frenzy Plant!" Sawyer ordered, throwing his fist forward.

The outline of a kunai made of Aura formed itself faintly in Ash's hand, mirroring the water blade Greninja now held. "Get out of there with Cut, and then close in for an Aerial Ace!"

"Dragon Claw, then Leaf Storm!" Sawyer countered as Greninja sliced through the vines and charged forward. As before, Greninja's arms were halted before they could hit their target – and now they did less damage, since they were being blocked by a Dragon-type move rather than Grass-type – but this time, Sceptile was prepared to stop the third blow from coming.

 _"Haven't seen this trick yet, have you?"_ he taunted, propelling the tip of his tail into Greninja's stomach with the force of a rocket and launching him into the air.

"Now, while he can't brace himself – Frenzy Plant again!"

Ash gripped his stomach in discomfort, grateful that Protean had reduced Greninja's pain by making him Flying-type when Leaf Storm hit. Pushing past, he called up to Greninja. "Follow my lead, and use your Water Shuriken to fly out of the way!"

Normally, a tactic like that would have been impossible – but Ash, whose movements were synchronized almost perfectly with Greninja's, had spent several days learning to fly on wings of water, allowing his partner to swoop gracefully around the oncoming assault.

 _"I DON'T BELIEVE IT!"_ the announcer yelled incredulously. _"FIRST A FLYING GOODRA, AND NOW ASH'S GRENINJA CAN FLY TOO? I'VE NEVER SEEN A BATTLE LIKE THIS BEFORE! WHO KNOWS WHAT'LL HAPPEN NEXT?"_

* * *

Meanwhile, up in the stands, Kazuto made another tally mark on a sheet of paper.

 _May I ask what that is, Master?_ Genos probed, the light in its gem getting fuzzier and clearer as its vision changed focus.

 _A list of times either Ash used an ability he learned in Aincrad/ALFheim or his Pokémon ended up with an opening that people could argue seemed contrived. Of course, with the criteria that broad it's ended up being almost every attack he uses…_

 _I see. Thank you, Master._ Ignoring Kazuto's rote protest to _stop calling me Master_ , Genos returned its attention to the battle.

* * *

"All right – change of plans, Sceptile!" Sawyer decided when he saw Greninja start flying. "We're gonna use Salamence's Incinerate strategy here. Since Salamence never used it, it should take Ash a while to figure it out."

Unfortunately for the green-haired Trainer, Ash's practice carrying out telepathic conversations with Serena while simultaneously interacting with other players back in Aincrad (though a bit rusty) allowed him to process the fight from both his and Greninja's perspectives at once. And considering the fact that the strategy Pikachu used against Aegislash was initially created for the purpose of guiding an opponent's movements, he soon recognized Sawyer's attack pattern.

"Greninja, dive down!" he yelled, simultaneously flexing his back muscles to control their descent. "Land on one of the vines and start running!"

"Quick, block him from jumping with another one and then hit him with Leaf Storm again!"

Ash's response confused Greninja briefly, since they were only sight-sharing and not thought-sharing at the moment. "Use Cut to throw it back!"

But he trusted his Trainer, so he re-formed his energy kunai, idly wondering how he could throw back a flying drill using just a knife with a… ring on the end… Smirking slightly, he blunted and shortened the 'blade' portion while elongating the handle and enlarging the ring (crafting your weapons out of pure elemental energy lets you do that).

He then moved as far to the right on the root as he could – and then back to the left as soon as Sceptile fired the end of his tail off again. Holding the 'kunai' out to the side, he skidded to a stop and braced himself, moving the weapon so that the leafy cone would impact its ring dead center.

He was very nearly yanked off his feet when it arrived, but Ash's centripetal-acceleration ploy worked, allowing him to throw Sceptile's Leaf Storm back with little loss of momentum. He immediately launched himself in pursuit, his powerful legs combining with a massive _flap_ of his Water Shuriken wings to boost him up to the same speed as the projectile while a Double Team decoy remained behind on the vine.

Sawyer, assuming the Leaf Storm was the only attack coming (since Greninja was hiding in its shadow) ordered Sceptile to return the favor by catching it with Dragon Claw and throwing it back. And it did work – up until Greninja, whose momentum had not been interrupted, slammed into his stomach with yet another Aerial Ace.

Not only did this damage Sceptile, but it also loosened the Grass-type's hold on the still-spinning Leaf Storm drill, causing it to hit him directly in the face. Combined with the damage he had taken earlier, this was enough to take him out of the fight.

In a display of sportsmanship, Greninja walked over (after de-transforming) and hoisted the recovering Sceptile back to his feet. _"That was a solid performance out there."_ he complimented, draping his rival's arm over his shoulder and walking him slowly over to his Trainer. _"If you had been up against anyone closer to Sawyer's level of experience, I feel like you would have won. No hard feelings?"_

Sceptile shook his head, mustering the strength to stand up on his own. _"Naw. Y'all outclassed us as a team, and I consider it an honor to have lost to you."_ He extended his hand, and the two of them mirrored Ash and Sawyer's handshake. _"Maybe we can have a friendly rematch sometime? No special transformations, no Trainers – just your skill against mine."_

Greninja grinned. _"Sounds like fun."_

* * *

 _I still can't believe it!_ Ash thought as he walked along the hallway to rejoin his friends. _I finally have a shot at League championship, after all these years…_

 _"Do you mind?"_ Pikachu asked from his shoulder. _"I know this is exciting and all, but the ride's getting kinda bumpy."_

"Sorry, buddy." Ash apologized. "I guess it's just affecting me more than you for some reason. Ever since we beat Sawyer, I've been feeling incredibly giddy – and I almost feel like I have to let it out _soon_ , or else I'm gonna _mmmph_!"

 _"That might be why…"_ Pikachu commented dryly as he peeled himself up off the ground. _"Should I give you two some privacy?"_

Serena pulled back with flushed cheeks and a sheepish grin. "Sorry, Pikachu. Guess I got a bit carried away there."

Pikachu waved dismissively. _"No, no, it's fine. What's smacking into a wall and then crashing to the floor compared to ten seconds of… that?"_

He was met with a deadpan stare from Ash. "Your support is overwhelming." As Ash turned to face Serena again, his voice took on an almost sickeningly sweet tone. "Now, _yours_ , on the other hand…"

 _"Sheesh, I get it. No need to rub it in."_

He was interrupted by the sound of someone knocking on the wall. "Are we interrupting anything?" Clemont asked around the doorframe, his Aipom arm snaking around to tap on their side of the wall. "Or can I stop restraining Bonnie now that Serena's had her 'moment' with you?"

"Nah, you can let her come in now." Ash replied, a slightly goofy grin appearing on his face as he remembered exactly what that 'moment' entailed. "I think we're good for a while."

He was quickly glomped by a miniature blond missile, and he reached down with his free hand to ruffle her hair.

"Hey, cut that out!" Bonnie protested, (thankfully) easing up on her grip to swat away his hand. "I can't hug you properly if you mess up my hair like that!"

 _"I do believe that was his intention."_ Squishy trilled from her bag. _"I myself have been on the receiving end of several of your hugs, and occasionally you become a tad overzealous."_

Of course Bonnie, not having Aura or Psychic powers, did not understand a word. "See? Squishy agrees with me!"

"Oh? Just like he 'agreed with you' when you were trying to convince Dad we should have pizza for dinner last night?" Clemont said dryly. "By the way, Ash, nice job with that battle. I get the feeling most of us missed out on part of it, based on how much Sawyer's and your Pokémon seemed to be talking, but it was incredible to watch nonetheless."

Kazuto nodded in agreement. "He's right, you know. If Genos hadn't been translating for me, I would have missed all the smack talk – and as we all know, that's the most entertaining part of battles when the fate of the world isn't on the line. Or people's lives."

Ash chuckled, socking him lightly in the shoulder. "You'd know all about that, wouldn't you Mr. Insanely-Over-Leveled? Name one time outside a Boss battle after Floor 50 where you didn't have _something_ smart-alecky to say."

"Laughing Coffin." Kazuto answered bluntly. "It's kind of hard to snark when you've just killed two people, even if they _were_ serial killers themselves. I was actually worried for a while after the Kuradeel incident because I thought that meant I was becoming desensitized, but Yui tells me that as long as I still feel remorse I haven't been desensitized yet."

The mirth immediately left Ash's face. "Oh. Right. I sorta forgot about that, since we were training Silica when the raid happened."

Kazuto patted his shoulder reassuringly. "Don't worry about it. It's not your fault that I have normal human emotions." In an attempt to inject some levity back into the situation, he joked, "Besides, like I said, I would be even _more_ worried if there _wasn't_ some kind of lasting emotional impact. That only happens if you're a sociopath – unless you're in one of those parody stories where character development never happens because exaggerating known character traits is funnier."

 ** _You know, that sounds suspiciously like an omake cue to me._**

And what do YOU know about writing stories? I mean, it is, but…

 ** _In that case, roll film._**

* * *

Omake: Fate/Sword Tuesday, Part VI

* * *

"…You know, I get the feeling I've seen you before somewhere." Kirito said off-handedly to the blond-haired man standing in the street near the Matou household. "There's a name that's right on the tip of my tongue – but what _was_ it? I know it's not Gary, 'cause that was the name of that sadistic quest NPC who left me to die… Gilbert? Gilligan? G-"

The other man scoffed, cutting him off. "As if such names were worthy of describing such a glorious man as I. Anyone well versed in literature should be well aware of my exploits, traveling the world and defeating creatures any mere man would flee at the mention of. You should consider yourself honored to even be in my presence."

Kirito snapped his fingers, as if in realization. "That's the name. Gilderoy! Almost didn't recognize you without that award-winning smile of yours. You giving out autographs today?"

Gilgamesh stood there for several minutes with a blank look on his face, and Kirito briefly wondered whether or not the particular piece of pop culture he was referencing even existed in that universe. Eventually, however, the ancient king of Uruk remembered a certain series of books that he had read several years back to counteract his boredom. And it had worked for a while – it was always amusing to see how badly the Englishwoman who wrote them misconstrued the workings of the world's magical community.

Now, however, that knowledge simply aroused his ire. "You mongrel…" he growled. "How DARE you imply that I share any sort of similarity with that overblown windbag!"

"Well, let's see." Kirito commented idly, counting on his fingers. "Blond, impeccable fashion sense, reputation comes from stories that may or may not be exaggeration, phenomenally large ego… oh, and no facial hair to speak of whatsoever."

Oddly enough, it was that last comparison that seemed to push Gilgamesh over the edge (though not so odd if one considered how petty it was and the fact that Gilgamesh _knew_ that). And, true to form for an omake, he blatantly overreacted. "You shall pay dearly for your insubordination, mongrel! **_ENUMA ELISH!_** "

Ea, the Sword of Rupture, unleashed a blinding blast upon the Fifth War's Saber too quickly for him to react – not that it would have mattered if he had, so wide was the attack's range.

Which was why Gilgamesh was dumbfounded when the glow faded to reveal not even a single brick out of place in the surrounding architecture. Kirito had been smashed up against the wall opposite himself, but had suffered no damage. The only indicator there had even been an attack was the purple hexagon that quickly winked out of existence.

Kirito chuckled, pulling himself to his feet. "Sorry, but that won't work in broad daylight. Archer's and my backstory means towns are Safe Zones during the day. Nice try, though."


	7. Chapter 7

The next morning, Ash was brimming with energy once again – only this time, it was brought on by nervousness rather than elation. He had tried meditating, he had tried sparring against himself, he had even run up and down the side of the Pokémon Center several dozen times _while_ sparring with himself; however, none of the activities he attempted were able to distract him. The meditation helped, sure, but two and a half years of mental focus training were still far outmatched by ten-plus years of anticipation being _so close_ to fulfillment. And, not wanting to bother Serena, he had left their connection firmly closed to let her sleep.

Unfortunately, his footsteps on the side of the building ended up bothering somebody else. **"Do you mind?!"** a half-asleep voice yelled grouchily through a just-opened window. **"Some of us are trying to sleep here, you know!"**

Oh, and did I mention it was only about 6:00 in the morning?

"Sorry about that." Ash apologized, dropping back down onto the ground. "Didn't realize there was anybody in those rooms."

"Whatever." the Trainer grumbled, starting to slide the window shut. "Why don't you, I don't know, run around the city a few times if you have that much energy?"

 _You know, that's not a bad idea!_ Ash thought. _Clemont usually tests his SKATES out around this time, so maybe I could go running with him today._ Vaulting up to the balcony at the end of their room's hallway, he changed out of his pajamas and into the exercise gear that had been sitting untouched in his backpack since his mom's last visit. "Hey Clemont, mind if I tag along?" he said softly, careful not to wake up either of the girls.

Clemont chuckled, pushing his glasses up onto his nose so that the lenses whited out. "I figured we'd encounter a situation precisely like this one. Which is why I timed my repairs such that the newest model would be ready for testing this very morning!"

"Man, science is so – wait a minute. Why do you say that every single time?"

The inventor's grin turned sheepish. "Cause it sounds cooler than 'this random gadget I built because I was bored just happens to solve our problem today.' But this time, I actually _did_ predict it because I knew how I would have reacted in this situation. Except I'd be doing a lot more inventing and a lot less running on the sides of buildings, since I don't have superpowers like you or Serena."

"They're not… huh, now that I think about it, they kinda are." Ash responded, his protest morphing into a concession. "Anyway, I'll meet you down in the lobby.

"Got it. I'll be down as soon as I put my Clemontic Gear on."

* * *

As the two of them exited the Pokémon Center's front door, Ash half-sensed a very predatory feeling of excitement before someone jumped out of a bush and tried to tackle them. He froze in place, overactive brain unable to choose a course of action, and that half second of indecision left him directly in the assailant's path.

"Haha, I gotcha, Clemont!" the attacker yelled, momentum carrying Ash into an off-balance roll with his arms pinned to his sides. "Bet'cha didn't expect to run into me today, did ya?"

"Um, Korrina? That's Ash you just tackled." Clemont pointed out. "But you're right – I didn't expect to run into you. Why are you in Lumiose right now, and how did you know where I was going to be?"

"Oh, that's easy." Korrina replied, extricating herself from the tangle of limbs and grinning energetically. "I saw Clembot waiting in line at that galette restaurant and asked him when the best time to sneak up on you would be, and he told me you were usually out testing your inventions about now."

Clemont blinked. "Wait, he told you where I was going to be after you ADMITTED you were going to try and sneak up on me? Sometimes I regret letting him develop his own personality… Besides, that only answers the second question. I know you're not getting any challengers during the League Conference, but I thought you told me you always watched it on TV every year."

"And I did, _duh_. But I figured cheering on Ash in person would be a good enough excuse to visit you." As Clemont's brow furrowed while he tried to parse out her response, she distracted him with an exaggerated pout. "But really, should I need an excuse to visit my boyfr-"

Korrina froze mid-sentence and clapped her hands over her mouth, Tamato-red. "Did I just say that out loud?"

"Yep, you sure did." Ash snarked from the ground where he was still sitting. "I mean, look at his face – it's the same color as yours. And I'm guessing this is just as much a surprise to him as it is to me."

Sure enough, Clemont's hands were flailing about rapidly as if trying to manipulate an invisible equation, and he was incoherently gibbering random scientific-sounding words.

"Oh my gosh Clemont, I'm so sorry!" Korrina said in a panic, attempting to stop his flailing by grabbing his hands. "I was trying to tease you, and it just slipped out, and now things are gonna be super-awkward, and I understand if you don't wanna be friends anymore because of that, and…"

Clemont finally managed to think semi-coherently and tightened his grip to interrupt her. "Um, uh, no, it's… it's fine, I just… um… well, I never thought you were thinking about that too – I always thought Bonnie was just being Bonnie, and I didn't want to make things awkward for _you_ , and… and now I'm the one saying things without thinking them through first." he realized dejectedly.

He finally picked his gaze up from the ground to see Korrina's eyes fixed on his own. "Do you… do you really mean that?" she asked, voice tinged with hope.

When faced with its subject, Clemont could no longer hold onto the lie he had been telling himself to try and avoid Bonnie's teasing, and he gulped nervously. "Y-Yeah. If you w-wanted to call me your b-b-boyfriend, I d-don't think I would mind."

"Geez, I know it's not science, but do you have to stutter so much?" Ash ribbed, reminding them that they were still out in public. "Oh yeah, and congratulations, you two."

"Uh… thanks, I guess?" Clemont replied, not protesting when Korrina interlaced her fingers with his. "Man, Bonnie's gonna flip when she hears about this."

A squeeze of his hand encouraged him. "But it'll be worth it, right? Besides, now we'll be facing it together."

Clemont chuckled nervously, still trying to convince himself that this was _actually happening_. "Hehehe… yeah, together…"

 ** _And you said you couldn't write romance! What do you call that, then?_**

What I said was, I don't feel confident in my ability to write _realistic_ romance – and that scene felt like was full of clichés. It was all I could do to try and make the diction feel realistic, at least from my perspective.

 ** _Meh, whatever. You've done your character development, and now there's another Trainer to help with the upcoming Flare fiasco. Can we please get back to the action now?_**

Sorry, but this is a world-building chapter based on a breather episode. Besides, do you really think Chespin and Pancham could run off unnoticed like in canon if Ash and Serena were there?

 ** _*sigh* I suppose. Here, you can have the narration back._**

Thank you. Time skip!

* * *

An hour or so later, as the group was relaxing in the lobby (or trying to relax, in Ash's case), Meyer burst through the door streaming tears of happiness. "I'M SO PROUD OF YOU, SON!" he yelled dramatically, gathering Clemont up into a vise-like hug.

"Urk… can't… breathe… Dad…" the inventor wheezed out, gasping for breath once he was released. "Wait a minute, how did you even…?"

"Aw, c'mon Clemont. Parents just _know_ that kind of thing." Korrina chided him. "Come to think of it, that's probably why Grandpa was getting out the meat grinder and earplugs when I left…"

"Wait a minute, he was getting out WHAT?"

Clemont's reaction was drowned out by the door opening again. "How many times do I have to tell you, Sir? Leaving your vehicle running unoccupied in the middle of the street simply extends an invitation to any criminals who may be passing by."

"But it wasn't unoccupied!" Meyer protested. "That was why I left you out there with it!"

"And you also forgot about the case of galettes you were planning to bring inside." Clembot responded, setting a cloth-wrapped box down on the table and dropping the electrician's keys into his hand. "If not for the chassis modifications your son performed back when the issue first arose, both they and I might have remained stuck out on the vehicle indefinitely. Honestly, some days it feels like you need a good kick in the side."

Kazuto's brow quirked at that statement. _Now why would he say 'in the side' and not 'in the pants?' It wouldn't be like a robot to say something like that for no reason. Kick in the side… kick in the side… kick in the side… kick… sidekick… Of_ _ **course**_ _. Their dad's a superhero – probably that Blaziken Mask guy Ash mentioned yesterday – and they have no idea. How cliché can you get?_

He was interrupted by Bonnie tugging at his sleeve. "Right, Kazuto?"

"I'm sorry, what?"

"They should totally go on a double date while we watch their Pokémon in the park! C'mon, say yes, say yes, _please!_ "

"Uh…"

Bonnie clambered up to whisper in his ear. _"If you do, then we'll get to eat their galettes for them since they'll be somewhere else."_

Kazuto chuckled, playfully knocking her down into a sitting position. "Well, when you put it like that…" He pretended to come in for a tickle, only to _boop_ her nose when she moved her hands to guard her stomach, causing her to collapse backward onto the couch. "What other choice do I have?"

"Hey, stop it!" Bonnie protested, scooting backwards out of Kazuto's reach. Coincidentally, that also put her right next to her brother – who she immediately shoved off the couch into a standing position. "Well? What are you waiting for? Hurry up!"

"Alright, alright, we're going…" Clemont said, helping Korrina to her feet. "Take good care of Bunnelby, Chespin, and Luxray, okay?"

Bonnie saluted, almost dropping the Pokéballs he had handed her in the process. "You can count on me, big brother!"

* * *

 _"Stupid Murkrow, stupid Pancham, stupid gravity."_ Chespin grumbled as he wandered the streets of Lumiose, trying to find his way back to the park. _"That galette was mine, but did anybody listen? No – and now thanks to you jerks, I've gotten lost. I bet you don't even care enough to come looking for me! I'm gonna have to live life as a wild Chespin, rummaging through the garbage for food and sleeping under boxes at night, and I just wanna go home…"_

Fortunately for him, his tirade-turned-tears attracted the attention of a nearby Trainer. "You lost, little guy?" she asked, kneeling down in front of him.

Chespin looked up at her words, taking in her appearance. The spikes of red hair that stuck out under her hat, combined with her green-and-yellow outfit, reminded him vaguely of his own species, and he immediately latched onto her leg. _"My family hates me!"_ he wailed melodramatically. _"I know you probably have a house full of Chespin already, but do you have room for one more?"_

While she may not have been able to understand his words, she was still able to understand what was _really_ bothering him. "You miss your Trainer, don't you?"

She picked him up gently and stood up again. "Don't worry, I'll help you find them. Come on, let's go."

About thirty seconds later, Chespin had forgotten about the search entirely. _"Yummy, yummy food…"_ he drooled, eyes glazed over as he reached longingly for a nearby taiyaki stand.

"Hold on a minute." a voice interrupted from a few feet away. "What are _you_ doing with Clemont's Chespin?"

Chespin's companion blinked, turning to face the person who had spoken. "Wait, do you know this little guy's Trainer?"

"Yeah, we've been pals for a while!" he responded, doing a quick spin and striking a pose. "Tierno's the name, and dancing's my game. These are my other pals Trevor and Shauna."

 _"Hi, guys!"_ Chespin said, waving happily. _"Hey, if you're not gonna eat those, can I?"_

His question was summarily ignored. "Nice to meet you. My name's Mairin. So, do you know where Chespin's Trainer is right now?"

The shorter boy answered her question this time. "Not at the moment, but I think I know someone who would." Dialing a number on his Pokégear, he held it up to his ear and waited.

"Hey, Sawyer. Where are you guys right now? We just ran into somebody trying to help Clemont's Chespin find his way back. Oh, you guys have been looking for him too? Right, I know where that park is. We'll meet you there!"

He hung up and put away the Pokégear. "Good news, everyone! We'll be making a delivery to the park halfway across town today!"

"…And how, exactly, is that _good_ news?" Shauna said, confused. "I mean, it's not like we had anything else planned until the match this afternoon – but still…"

Trevor shrugged. "It sounded better in my head that way. But anyway, now that we know where to go, why waste time standing around?"

"My thoughts exactly." Tierno responded, popping the last of his taiyaki into his mouth. "Lead the way, bro!"

* * *

"There they are – right up ahead!" Tierno announced, pointing toward the grassy field in front of them. "Hey Sawyer, since we got some time to kill, how about a friendly rematch?"

Sawyer's reply went unheard by Mairin, whose attention had been caught by a spike of black hair poking up above a long-sleeved black jacket, whose owner was standing next to a Charizard. "Um, thanks for your help and all, but… I kinda gotta go."

"Hmm?" Shauna asked from beside her. "Why so sudden?"

"Well, because…" _Because I don't want to distract Alain by making him worry about me, so I'm staying out of his way until the League is over_ she thought – but the words were halted when he patted his hair down flat.

"Sorry, Bonnie." he said, chuckling. "But I don't think Dedenne's cut out to be a hair stylist. By the way, it sounds like Tierno and the others are here with Chespin."

"Never mind." Mairin told Shauna. "I thought I saw someone I recognized, but I guess I was mistaken."

The black-haired teen turned around, having caught the statement thanks to his practice with situational awareness in Aincrad. "You wouldn't happen to be talking about Alain, would you? The lady at the League reception desk mistook me and him for siblings, so I can see why you might have been confused. Kazuto Kirigaya, by the way."

"Wait, you know Alain?" Mairin wondered out loud.

Kazuto nodded. "I kinda got lost when I first came here to meet up with Ash – his opponent in the finals this afternoon – and he was kind enough to escort me to the stadium. I'm guessing you're Chespie's Trainer?"

Mairin blinked. "How do you know about Chespie?"

"Well, Alain mentioned him, you said you know Alain, and you were staring at Clemont's Chespin sadly for a few seconds. It wasn't that hard to connect the dots." Kazuto explained. "He did clam up almost immediately afterwards, but after I told him I'd been through something similar myself, I feel like he'd be more willing to let you in again."

Mairin's mouth curved upwards, her eyes shining with a mixture of happy tears and sad tears. "Thanks, but I still think I'll wait 'til after the League. Lysandre says Chespie should be awake by then, so I won't have to worry about distracting Alain from his battle." she said in a small voice.

Kazuto nodded sympathetically. "Well, that's your call. Make sure you _do_ talk to him afterwards though, okay?"

Mairin sniffled, blowing her nose in a handkerchief Shauna handed her. "All right – thanks."

"You're welcome." he answered, patting her on the head. "My daughter Yui hates to see people cry, and I guess she kinda rubbed off on me."

"Hold on." Shauna interjected. "You have a kid? But you barely look any older than Ash and Serena…"

Kazuto scratched the back of his neck. "Well, my fiancée and I are kind of still in the process of officially adopting her, which was why neither of them could make it."

Understanding lit up on the Performer's face. "Oh, I see…"

 _"OBJECTION!"_ Greninja yelled, pointing dramatically at Pancham and Chespin and drawing everyone's attention. _"You two are_ _ **both**_ _going to apologize to each other – unless you want me to bring out the coffee spoons again."_

A shiver of fear seemed to visibly travel up their spines, and the two squabbling pseudo-siblings swiftly squared up. Charizard, on the other hand, simply quirked his brow in curiosity. _"What did you even_ _ **do**_ _that has them so scared?"_ he muttered in Greninja's ear.

 _"Honestly, nothing. I told them 'whatever you can imagine, it'll be worse,' and then had Braixen use Hypnosis to put them into a semi-lucid dream where their imaginations could run wild. I was planning on having the time spent worrying be the punishment, but apparently they thought their dreams actually happened. But if it gets them to cooperate, I'm not complaining."_

Charizard chuckled. _"Ohohoho, that's bad. I approve."_

Suddenly, Chespin perked up and ran towards the edge of the park. _"Yay, Clemont's back!"_

"Hey there, Chespin." Clemont said, stooping down to catch his Pokémon. "I hope you behaved for Bonnie."

Chespin rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. _"Hehehe… about that…"_

"Wait, what's the Shalour Gym Leader doing here?" Trevor said, curious. "I get Clemont, since he runs the Lumiose Gym, but why's she here?"

"I came here to visit my boyfriend, _duh_!" Korrina answered, slinging an arm around Clemont's shoulders.

Shauna blinked. "Since when have you two been –"

"It's kind of a recent development." Clemont admitted, cheeks going slightly pink. "Ash and Serena should be back soon, too. Korrina just insisted on skating ahead, and I couldn't say no."

A branch cracked above their heads, and Ash fell out of the tree above them before bursting into a swirl of blue light as he hit the ground. A few seconds later, there was another flash of paler blue light, and Ash and Serena appeared in the middle of the clearing. "Oh, hey guys! What are you doing here?"

"They were helping Mairin over here bring Clemont's Chespin back." Sawyer told him. "What _was_ that just now?"

Ash chuckled. "Well, ya see –"

Kazuto interrupted him. "Long story short, it's one of Ash's weird superpowers that lets him clone himself and get the memories of the clone when it breaks. I'm guessing he had it follow these two so Serena could teleport them straight here without getting lost."

This time, it was Ash's turn to blink in confusion. "How do you know all that?"

"One of your duplicates told me right before your match with Sawyer, remember?"

Ash shook his head. "All I remember from then is him standing in front of a bathroom door for several minutes and breath-doodling on a nearby window."

"Hmm. I guess that means his prank worked, then. Did you have a question, Korrina?"

The Gym Leader stopped waving her hand frantically. "Okay, I know you somehow did that with Aura – but _HOW_? None of Grandpa's scrolls said anything about a technique like that!"

Ash shrugged. "I guess it's sort of like a slightly more solid version of Substitute or Double Team, but you can't do it unless you _know_ what it feels like to be in two places at once so you can replicate that. I only know because Arceus was messing with time travel the morning of registration…"

Mairin, meanwhile, was getting more panicked by the minute. _THIS is who Alain's up against? I know Alain is super-duper strong, but if Ash acts like running into a Legendary Pokémon is an everyday occurrence, how strong_ _ **is**_ _he? I'm pretty sure I even heard people saying his Greninja could FLY!_

"Hey, is something the matter?" Serena asked, picking up on her panic.

"Um, well…"

"She's friends with Alain." Kazuto answered for her. "Her Chespin is sick, and Alain's boss Lysandre is apparently working on a cure, which somehow involves Alain collecting the energy from Mega Evolution, and so she's worried about him – especially now that she's met his opponent."

Serena nodded in understanding. "I get it. Honestly, Ash is worried too. This is his sixth League Conference, but it's the first time he's ever gotten to the finals. And _we_ don't know for sure how strong Alain's Charizard really is, so we're in the same boat." She then glanced over to Kazuto. "By the way, did you say Alain is working for a guy named Lysandre?"

"Yeah, why? Did you meet him or something?"

Serena nodded again. "He found us right after Clemont and Korrina ran ahead and started asking us questions about Greninja. I could tell he was genuinely interested, but it felt like he was hiding something too."

Mairin furrowed her brow in thought. "Do you think maybe he was trying to see if Greninja's special transformation could help cure Chespie faster? It's kind of been a secret, which would explain why he didn't say anything about it." A nearby clock chimed, and her head shot up in alarm. "Oh no – I'm gonna be late! I told Lysandre I'd be back at the hotel by lunchtime, since he's letting me watch Alain's battle with him!"

"All right, then you do that." Kazuto told her. "Genos, do you mind making sure she gets there safely?"

 _"Of course, Master. If you believe I am ready for a solo escort mission, then I will carry it out to the best of my ability."_

Kazuto glared at the Honedge with half-lidded eyes. "Just because I'm not getting a translation right now doesn't mean I don't know what you said. How many times do I have to tell you, stop calling me Master!"

 _"If my calculations are correct, one more than you are willing to, Master."_

Kazuto threw up his hands in frustration. "Grrr… Whatever. You: escort quest. Now."

 _"As you command."_ Genos left with Mairin, hovering above and slightly behind her to keep a watchful eye out.

"Yeah, I probably ought to get going too." Ash said, beginning to recall his Pokémon. "Serena got a message while we were out saying that I need to be at the stadium an hour and a half or so before the battle. Some kind of new security measures or something, I guess."

Just before recalling Talonflame, he paused. "Oh yeah, and thanks for agreeing to let Charizard sub for you today."

Talonflame performed the closest equivalent it could to a shrug. _"I mean, it made sense. Why cripple yourself against Rock-types by having two Fire/Flying Pokémon on your team?"_

"Yeah, but you're still awesome for that. And I mean it."

Ash then turned to Kazuto. "Well, I'll see you after the battle. Make sure you cheer for me, okay?"

"Hey, I can't make any promises." Kazuto ribbed. "After all, Alain _did_ rescue me from a runaway Berry cart…"

Ash put on an affronted look. "Fine then, cheer for him if you want. See if I need _your_ encouragement to win…"

The two's façade soon broke down into chuckles, and Kazuto clapped Ash on the back. "Good luck out there, Ash. Time to put those two extra years you got to good use."

* * *

Omake: Fate/Sword Tuesday, Part VII

* * *

The next time Gilgamesh encountered Kirito, the swordsman's attitude had changed markedly. As soon as he caught sight of the ancient king, the whelp dropped to a knee and bowed his head, forcing his Master to do the same. Intrigued, Gilgamesh held off on skewering him for the time being.

"Rejoice, dog, for I have deemed you worthy of an opportunity to make reparations." he said magnanimously, gesturing to the kneeling figure in front of him.

"Oh ancient and powerful King of Uruk, I offer you my apologies for the undeserved insults which I bestowed upon you when last we met." Kirito intoned. "Upon further investigation, I discovered that you graced my Master's father with your presence during the preceding War – and so I thought it prudent to honor that former association with a gift, in hopes of stemming your ire. This treasure, which comes from my personal legend, is one of the things dearest to my heart, and yet I realize that it would be of far greater value in the possession of one so mighty as you." Keeping his head bowed, he held out his hand palm-up to reveal a necklace adorned by a single teardrop-shaped crystal.

Gilgamesh examined the object, and he quickly realized that it contained power equal to that of a Servant in and of itself. "I accept your gift, as well as your apology." he conceded, placing the necklace within the treasury of his Gate. "Perhaps I shall keep you around once the War is over, as long as you remain mindful of your place."

"Your forgiveness is unparalleled." Kirito replied. "And pardon the presumption, but may I ask how familiar Tokiomi was with modern technology? His daughter's aptitude in that field is sorely lacking."

Gilgamesh laughed aloud at that as Rin silently fumed. "You're an interesting one, aren't you? I never chose to learn, as such technology was beneath my notice."

"Sooo… that means you don't know how a Trojan virus works?"

"And why should I? My power comes from magic, not machines."

Kirito grinned cheekily at him. "Because that necklace was one. Sorry, but you're no longer a player in this War."

"What? Insolent mongrel!" Gilgamesh opened his Gate to skewer Kirito, only to be met with… nothing. "What? How can this be?"

"Well… Yui just moved all your 'item. phantasm' files to her internal storage, so now she has all your Noble Phantasms and you have none. And on top of that, none of what I said to you earlier was a lie. In gamer lingo, I believe that would translate to: 'get freaking rekt, scrub'."


	8. Chapter 8

**_._**

 _This is it._ Ash thought, walking out to the battlefield. _Eight years, six leagues, and it all comes down to this._ A grin grew on his face, and he extended a fist towards Alain. _You'd better not hold back, because I'm gonna be fighting to win!_

In a show of solidarity, Alain mirrored Ash as if bumping fists with him. _Don't disappoint me, Ash. Show me just what you and your Pokemon can do!_

"For those of you watching this on television, this match will have the same rules as last time." the referee announced. "Six-on-six, substitutions allowed, and a field change after one side loses three Pokémon. Battle, begin!"

"Pikachu, you're up/Tyranitar, take the field!" the two Trainers called out simultaneously. As Pikachu bounded out onto the rocky landscape, which mirrored that of Alain's first battle in the League, Tyranitar appeared in a swirl of energy and pulsed out a sandstorm.

"Dark Pulse!" Alain ordered, trying to catch Pikachu before he moved from his initial position.

"Dodge with Quick Attack, and jump in the river to stop the sand from hitting you!" Ash countered.

As Pikachu was dodging, a piece of debris from the explosion splashed in the river and caused a bit of mud to splatter on him – giving him inspiration. _"Time for a little creative interpretation!"_ he called, turning his jump into an Iron Tail-fueled cannonball dive. The ensuing mini-shower weighed down all the sand in the air and cleared out the storm, allowing the field to be seen once again.

"Now, while the air's still wet – hit Tyranitar with a Thunderbolt!"

Alain winced as the attack hit, but the excitement of battle soon overcame it. "Impressive speed. The question is: can he overcome Tyranitar's endurance?"

"We'll just have to see. Pikachu, Electro Ball!"

"Stone Edge, Sinnoh variant!" The ground shimmered around Tyranitar, and a ring of rocks emerged and began orbiting around the Dark-type before shooting off toward Pikachu. One, however, remained in front of Tyranitar to shield it from the incoming Electro Ball.

As some of the stones curved around to attack from the sides while others continued moving straight, Ash grinned nostalgically. "All right, Pikachu, you know what to do. Hit them back with Iron Tail!"

Alain was surprised that Ash _wasn't_ surprised, but didn't let it faze him. "Use the stones he hits back to kick up a cloud of dust, and move in for a Crunch while he can't see!"

Ash chuckled as Tyranitar began to manipulate the flying stone once again. "I thought I recognized that technique. Pikachu, get ready for an Electro Ball – but don't form it yet!"

"Use the Stone Edge to move yourself faster!" Alain instructed, quickly running a risk/reward assessment in his mind. In response, one of the rocks curved around and hit Tyranitar in the back, propelling it forward as its fangs began to glow.

"Block with your Iron Tail, then detonate!"

Pikachu kicked off the last remaining stone, twisting his body so that Tyranitar's teeth clamped down on his Steel-hard tail rather than his torso, and immediately released the Electro Ball inside the Rock-type's mouth. _"Bleuuugggh… I hate the taste of electricity."_ Tyranitar groaned, collapsing.

"Nice job." Alain complimented as he recalled Tyranitar. "I'm guessing you've traveled in Sinnoh before?"

Ash nodded. "Yup. One of my rivals there actually had a Torterra who could control his Stone Edge like that. And now that I think about it, he kind of reminds me of you… By the way, it's your turn, Noivern!"

Alain actually cracked a small grin at that statement. "I wouldn't be surprised. When I sent Tyranitar over to my cousin Reggie's daycare last year to learn that Stone Edge trick, he said something very similar. But enough small talk – Weavile, let's go!"

"Okay, let's start things off with a Supersonic!" Ash called. At Alain's command, Weavile countered with a Protect and closed in for a Night Slash – the balance of speed now reversed from the previous matchup. "Now ascend with Boomburst!"

"Watch his trajectory and immobilize him with Ice Beam!"

"Dodge with Acrobatics, and then use that speed to attack!"

"Evade with Double Team!" Alain instructed, mentally facepalming at his own shortsightedness when he heard Ash's next statement.

"Use your echolocation to find the real one!"

Mind racing, Alain decided to try a tactic he had observed in Sawyer's battle against Ash. "Ice beam and spin – keep Noivern at a distance!"

"Boomburst at low power – surround yourself with a shield of compressed air." Ash countered.

The two Pokémon collided above the river, resulting in an explosion of icy wind that threw Weavile into the air and Noivern into the water. "Now, Weavile! Propel yourself down with Ice Beam and attack with Night Slash while he can't move!"

Hampered by the water, Noivern was unable to execute a counter in time, and Weavile's attack slammed directly into his wing joint. Immediately afterwards, his Supersonic triggered, causing the river to erupt into massive waves and throw each of them back into the air. Weavile, being less injured, was able to bleed off its momentum into a roll – but Noivern's dislocated wing joint prevented him from recovering, and he crashed into the ground at full force.

"Noivern is unable to battle; Weavile is the winner!"

 _"Oh, I am slain!"_ Noivern groaned melodramatically as Ash jogged over and popped his wing back into place. _"My mentor, my friend, I ask that you avenge me for this horrific catastrophe!"_

Hawlucha emerged from his Pokéball with a determined look on his face. _"Your effort shall not be in vain."_ Turning to face Weavile, he posed ferociously. _"You just messed with the wrong guy, kid."_

Weavile gave a _tch_ in response. _"That's what they all say. But you can't hurt what you can't hit!"_

Hawlucha answered with a _come-at-me_ gesture. _"We'll just have to see about that."_

When Weavile declined to close the distance, Ash spoke up from back in his Trainer's box. "If he won't come to us, we'll take the fight to him. Close in with a Karate Chop combo!"

"Use your speed to dodge!" Alain ordered.

Ash grinned. "Remember, Hawlucha's faster than you think. And all he needs is to get one solid hit – it doesn't matter where or how."

True to his statement, Hawlucha's attacks were coming so quickly that Weavile's dodges were much more reaction than anticipation. And once he heard Ash's words, Hawlucha realized what his Trainer was trying to do with that fact. Slowing down slightly (as if winded), he allowed his strikes to fall into a pattern.

Weavile soon recognized the pattern and grew more confident, enough to start taunting Hawlucha as it dodged. _"That's what you get for calling me a kid – it makes you an old man in comparison!"_

Hawlucha smirked. _"Is that so, junebug? I really prefer the term… EXPERIENCED!"_ Exploding into motion, he volleyed a High Jump Kick at the space Weavile was about to occupy, the attack connecting solidly.

The Ice-type landed in the river, quickly regaining its feet. As Hawlucha closed in again with a series of leaps, Alain gave his next instruction. "Ice Beam at his feet – freeze him in place!"

"Glide, Hawlucha!" Ash shouted. Obeying his Trainer, the wrestler spread his wings out fully, and his descent was slowed enough that he landed _on_ the ice rather than getting stuck _in_ the ice.

"While he's still getting his balance, close in with a Night Slash!"

"Use the ice to reduce the force of impact!"

Upon getting hit with Weavile's Night Slash, Hawlucha slid backwards along the ice. Since he did not have friction keeping his feet firmly in place (and was not even trying to), he was not damaged as much as he might have been otherwise. Unfortunately for him, this also meant that Weavile was able to knock him back onto the bank of the river.

"Keep him on the ropes! Night Slash again!"

Weavile leaped into the air to deliver the attack – only to be surprised once again when Hawlucha turned his tumble into a roll, transitioning seamlessly into a back handspring followed by a massive vertical leap that brought him up to Weavile's level. Hawlucha took advantage of his opponent's shock to capture him in a suplex, throwing him down towards the ground and immobilizing him beneath a Flying Press.

The outcome was so easy to determine, it almost wasn't worth mentioning. "Weavile is down; Hawlucha is the winner!"

 _"Told you ya messed with the wrong guy!"_ Hawlucha crowed, flexing his muscles in victory.

Alain _humm_ ed aloud in thought. "Hawlucha's speed is definitely going to be a problem. Luckily, I have a counter for something like this. Bisharp, to the field!"

 _"En garde!"_ the Sword Blade Pokémon challenged, setting its arms in an offensive stance.

"You're not very familiar with the way Hawlucha fights, are you?" Ash asked in an attempt to throw Alain off his game. "He'll take any attack you can throw at him, and it'll just get him even more pumped!"

Instead, his attempt had the opposite effect. "Exactly what I was hoping for. Bisharp, Thunder Wave!" At Alain's command, several rings of electricity shot out from Bisharp's gauntlet and enveloped Hawlucha. Since his ability was Unburden and not Limber (as evidenced by his initial tendency to wear and discard a leaf mask, which fit the qualifications of a "held item," during his time as Forest Champion), he was unable to avoid the ensuing Paralysis.

But even with his speed cut in half, Hawlucha was still able to counter the Guillotine attack Alain had called for using X-Scissor. Granted, this was because his arms were already in the starting position for said technique – but still, successfully defending against a move almost guaranteed to cause a knockout while Paralyzed was no small feat. Hoping to get in another attack while they still had momentum, Ash called for a High Jump Kick.

This proved to be Hawlucha's undoing, as Bisharp was able to dodge the knee aimed for its face by bending smoothly over backwards. At such close range, and still suffering from the recoil damage from impacting the ground (since the Paralysis prevented him from bleeding off momentum with a roll), the wrestler was a sitting Ducklett for Alain's follow-up Guillotine.

"It's okay, Hawlucha." Ash reassured him as he called him back. "You did your best, and that's all that matters."

Alain nodded, recalling Bisharp. "Come back for now; I may need you later. Unfezant, you're up!"

"Oh, cool – I have one of those!" Ash said excitedly. "Let's see… okay, Goodra!"

Alain raised an eyebrow questioningly, before deciding to just roll with Ash's choice. "Not who I expected, but I can work with this. Start off with an Air Slash!"

"Defend yourself with Dragon Pulse!" Ash responded, trusting Goodra's aim to keep him safe from the attack.

"Now, get in close with Steel Wing!"

"Deflect it with Iron Tail!"

A _CLANG_ of clashing metal resounded through the stadium, and Unfezant began circling the stadium again. "Try it again, but come from the front this time!" Alain ordered.

"Take the hit, then grab him and charge up an Ice Beam!"

Alain grimaced for a second, but quickly though up a counter strategy. "Make him let go by charging up your Sky Attack!"

"Bide, and release the Ice Beam!"

At point-blank range, the elemental advantage of the Ice Beam enabled it to pierce the still-building aura of Sky Attack, resulting in a massive explosion of icy wind. And since Goodra was built to weather that type of non-physical attack much better than Unfezant, the same force that took the Flying-type out of the fight only pushed the Dragon-type back several feet.

"Bisharp, you're up again!" Alain called, recalling Unfezant and sending his Dark/Steel-type back out. "Before he can fire, take him out with Guillotine!"

"But wait, we need to –"

The referee's statement went unheard as Bisharp charged forward, hand-blades glowing whitish-blue. _He's gonna go for Goodra's neck this time._ Ash decided, quickly analyzing Goodra for any critical-strike zones. "Try and focus an Iron Tail into your neck!"

While the technique failed, the amount of Steel-type energy Goodra _was_ able to reinforce himself with served to keep him in the fight – albeit on his last legs. "Now, while it's close! Grab it with your tail and fire!"

"Focus Blast!" Alain countered, the Fighting-type attack's naturally erratic flight pattern curving it around Goodra's stupidly overpowered Bide for a double knockout.

"Both Pokémon are unable to battle!" the referee announced. "Now can we _please_ perform the field change?"

Ash chuckled mareepishly. "Whoops, forgot about that. Sorry."

Now that he had had an opportunity to calm down again, the referee was more forgiving than he originally would have been. "It's less my problem than it is the TV network's." he admitted with his microphone off as the field receded into the innards of the stadium. "It's an agreement they have with the League Committee. They normally use substitutions and field changes for commercial breaks – but since it would have interrupted the flow of the battle, they'll probably just have to live with it. Either that or insert an artificial cliffhanger…"

"You seem to know a lot about how that works, don't you?" Ash commented idly, hearing a series of faint clanks below them indicating the new field was ready to be ratcheted up into place.

"Yeah, I was on Malva's camera crew last year to help pay for the certification course I had to take for this. Wasn't a bad gig, but I like this better." He switched his microphone back on as the newly-revealed Grass field _click_ ed into place. "Since the Red Trainer still has three Pokémon remaining, he will be choosing first. Battle, resume!"

"Pikachu, you're up again. I get the feeling he's saving Charizard for last, which means we'll be up against his Metagross."

The corners of Alain's mouth quirked up, his stoic façade having melted by this point. "You're quite perceptive. I couldn't have asked for a more worthy opponent. Metagross, do your thing!"

 _At your service, Sir. Shall I assume threat level is Elite Four?_

"May as well, based on how that Pikachu took out Tyranitar with little difficulty. And save your strength for battling, not talking."

 _As Sir wishes._ The Metagross turned to face Pikachu, mechanical gaze fixating on its deceptively small opponent. _"I wish you the best of luck. You shall need it against me."_

Pikachu nodded. _"Same to you."_

"All right, first we've gotta match his speed." Alain said. "Metagross, let's start things off with Agility!"

Abruptly, the half-ton hunk of steel blurred into motion – so quickly it was nearly invisible to the untrained eye. "Quick, see if you can escape!"

"Oh, no you don't. Close in with Metal Claw!" Metagross, having the advantage of already being in motion, was able to cross the distance between the two in a split second, and only a last-second Iron Tail from Pikachu mitigated the damage its swipe would have caused. "Now, Rock Slide!"

"Counter Shield!" Ash ordered in response. Pikachu promptly began spinning, the Thunderbolt he emitted deflecting the shower of rocks.

"Before he moves – Meteor Mash!"

Metagross slammed its two front legs together, coating them in a sheath of Steel-type energy, and charged forward rapidly, barreling through Pikachu's impromptu shield at its weakest point. "Hang in there, Pikachu!" Ash called as they slammed into the field boundary.

 _"You kidding?"_ Pikachu grunted, hoisting himself back to his feet. _"I could do this all day!"_ Hearing Alain order another Meteor Mash, he glanced over at Metagross to see it preparing the attack again. But _this_ time, he was not preoccupied with shielding against falling rocks – and so he was able to detect the electric currents magnetically sealing Metagross's limbs together. _"Oh, no you don't. Electro Ball!"_

When it hit, the magnetic polarity of Metagross's right leg reversed, turning the attractive force into repulsion – and the Iron Leg Pokémon's legs were shoved in opposite directions, disrupting its Meteor Mash technique. "Nice work, Pikachu." Ash complimented. "Now latch on and hit it with a Thunderbolt!"

 _"Two Flying-types with one stone? You got it."_ Jumping on Metagross's back, Pikachu began sending a steady stream of positive charge into the Steel-type's body. And while it didn't do as much damage as a full-on Thunderbolt, it had the secondary effect of anchoring Pikachu via Coulombic attraction forces.

That wasn't to say it was foolproof, though. In order to keep himself attached, Pikachu had to dedicate all his spare focus to keeping his own negative charge _within_ his body as the voltage built up – or else the charges would equalize and he would lose his stability. One Rock Slide would be the end of him.

Thankfully (for him at least), he was able to reach a critical voltage before Alain could give instructions more precise than 'shake him off,' and he set up an essentially-one-way path that the current could travel through to get from him to Metagross. _Un_ fortunately, he couldn't insulate himself completely, and the resulting backlash launched him high into the air.

"Finish it with Iron Tail!" Ash ordered, and Pikachu reflexively infused his tail with Steel-type energy. This had the added effect of dragging him down faster than he would have fallen otherwise, and he slammed the attack home directly between Metagross's eyes.

 _System error… critical functions damaged. Entering shutdown mode, restarting in 10 seconds…_

Said eyes morphed into rotating swirls, indicating the Steel-type's inability to battle further. "Metagross is unable to battle, which means Pikachu is the winner!"

"Congratulations, Ash. Your Pikachu is well-trained." Alain said, recalling Metagross and pulling out his last Pokéball. "You know what's coming next, don't you?"

Ash nodded. "Yep, and I've got someone who's been waiting for quite some time to test himself against a Mega Charizard at full strength. Pikachu, come on back for now."

"Charizard, let's do this!" Alain called. His Charizard appeared on the field in a swirl of flame, roaring a challenge to the skies. "Charizard's been waiting for this battle too, and we're ready to take on whatever your Greninja can dish out."

"Sorry, but it's actually not Greninja I was talking about." Ash replied, garnering a mass sweatdrop from the audience as he scratched the back of his neck.

Alain's brow furrowed. "Wait, then who –"

Ash's hand shot up, throwing a Pokéball into the air. "Meet one of my strongest Pokémon, who's been with me since the first region I traveled through…"

The resulting swirl of light took shape on the field, morphing into a figure that Alain recognized very well.

"…Charizard."

* * *

Omake: Charizard the Critic

* * *

 _"Oh, come on!"_ Charizard growled. _"You can't just stop the chapter there! All the readers have been waiting for this confrontation ever since it was first announced! Honestly, the nerve of some authors…"_

 _"Am I interrupting something?"_ Greninja asked cheekily, poking his head into the Pokécenter Network cubicle Charizard was sitting in. The Fire-type quickly pressed a series of buttons to surreptitiously close his active tab while turning in a fashion that kept the screen hidden from his teammate.

 _"No, what makes you think I would be trying to hide anything?"_

 _"One, how defensive you instinctively sounded when denying it. Two, the fact that I_ _ **saw**_ _you closing down some sort of window as soon as you heard me. And last but not least, three."_

Greninja stepped aside to reveal a whole crowd of Pokémon staring at Charizard's cubicle from a distance. _"You were complaining loudly enough that we had to put the semifinals of our Rock-Paper-Scissors tournament on hold because nobody could concentrate further than a triple bluff."_

 _"It's true."_ a Magnemite buzzed in irritation. _"I was on a winning streak until you distracted me."_

Charizard blinked. _"Wait a minute. Rock is… and then paper… and scissors…"_ He went through the motions for each choice as he spoke, his confusion growing visibly. _"But without hands, how does he… never mind, I don't want to know."_

Greninja nodded sagely. _"It's probably for the best if you don't."_


	9. Chapter 9

**_._**

 **A/N: My apologies for the late release. I had some deadlines and exams for uni that completely wacked up my usual Tuesday schedule, and this is the first chance I had to post.**

 _This is an intriguing turn of events…_ Lysandre mused, slouching backwards in his seat as Ash's Charizard turned and blew a Flamethrower directly at his Trainer's face. _But our conquest will become that much easier once we turn him to our side. All that remains is for my agents in Prism Tower to complete the setup…_

"Wait, that Charizard is _his_?" Mairin interrupted, pressing her face up to the glass. "I thought it belonged to that guy he was with who looked like Alain!"

Lysandre looked up. "Hmm? Do tell. Last I heard, his companions were the Gym Leader and his little sister, whom I have yet to meet, and the girl he was dating – Serena, I believe her name was."

Mairin nodded, turning away from the window just in time to miss the clash of Steel Wing versus Steel Wing right outside. Since Lysandre had deactivated the speaker system when he made his request, all she heard was a muffled _clank_ (as if the two Pokémon were on the other side of the arena). "Remember that Honedge that escorted me back? That was his, and I thought the Charizard was his too since Ash never used it. He knew about Chespie, too – and he even said that's why Alain is collecting Mega Evolution energy."

Lysandre rubbed his chin in thought, ignoring the flash of light that heralded Charizard's Mega Evolution. "Now that you mention it, I do recall Alain mentioning a Trainer he met on the day of registration that people assumed was a relative. He said this person gave him some advice that gave him a new perspective on battling – I'm guessing it's the same person. Do you by any chance remember his name?"

Mairin's face scrunched up, and she stared off into space. Halfway across the field, Ash's Charizard slammed a Dragon Tail into the ground to disrupt his opponent's oncoming Blast Burn, but she was so distracted she didn't even notice. "I… think it sounded sort of like one of those fossils we saw being restored once. The round one Steven had in the case with the swirly one."

As Charizard launched himself in for a Steel Wing using the shockwave from Mega Charizard's weakened attack, Lysandre's eyebrow rose. "…Dan? Don? Dolan?"

Mairin shook her head. "Not the fossil, the Pokémon that came from the fossil." In the background, Mega Charizard caught Charizard's steel-hard wings with a last-minute Dragon Claw.

A look of understanding appeared on Lysandre's face. "Ah, you mean Kabuto."

"Kazuto, that was it! He was really nice, even if his Pokémon was a little weird. He kept telling Honedge 'don't call me Master' over and over again, but it sounded like he didn't actually _expect_ it to stop." She looked back at the field to see Ash's Charizard smash another Dragon Tail attack into Mega Charizard's stomach as a wash of blue flame engulfed him, the ensuing explosion pushing both Pokémon apart. Her face grew worried. "Wow, Ash's Charizard is doing a lot better than that other one did, and he still has his Greninja and Pikachu too. It looks like Alain might even lose!"

Lysandre silently agreed with her statement, but decided to humor her by placating her worries. "Maybe so, but Alain's Charizard is in much better condition, see? And has it ever lost to anything short of an Elite Four or Legendary?"

The worry in her expression faded, but didn't go away completely. "I guess you're right…" Down on the field, Charizard escaped the next Blast Burn by flying up to the edge of the explosion's shockwave (after dampening it with a Flamethrower heading the opposite way). "But I'm pretty sure Ash has run into Legendaries too. He even mentioned –"

Lysandre's Holo Caster abruptly rang, and he stood up. "My apologies, but I have to take this. It's a matter of utmost importance."

"Mmhmm." Mairin acknowledged, turning her attention back to the battle as Lysandre left, reactivating the speakers as he did so. "C'mon, Alain – do your best…"

* * *

 _"Is that the best you got?"_ Charizard roared, breathing heavily as he hovered in the air. _"I managed to beat the five strongest Charizard in the Valley all in a row, and I've only gotten stronger since then!"_

Across the field, Mega Charizard was also breathing harder than usual. Thanks to his increased stamina, though, he still had plenty of energy. _"That explains why you've done so well – you trained yourself specifically to fight Charizard."_ he observed. _"Most other opponents I've faced would have been beaten by now."_

Charizard let out a snort, his breathing beginning to even out again. _"Sorry to disappoint. I have to say, though, you're definitely on Articuno's level."_

Mega Charizard flew up to attack at his Trainer's order, claws glowing bright green. _"So you've fought against a Legendary too, huh? Well, get ready to experience déjà vu – cause you're going down again!"_

In response, Charizard descended and blocked with Dragon Tail. _"I doubt that. You wanna know why?"_

 _"Why?"_

Charizard's eyes flashed. _"Because I won."_ Closing his wings, he hardened them into Steel and let gravity drag him downwards – only to jerk himself to a halt in midair and swing his tail in a semicircle, Mega Charizard still attached to the end. Mega Charizard instinctively let go to prevent himself from being swung any further, but that only placed him within Charizard's grappling range.

 _"Not enough leverage to use Steel Wing, not enough reach to use Dragon Claw."_ Charizard taunted as he pinned his opponent's arms to his sides from behind. _"Now, it's time to show you how I beat a Legendary."_ Flying in a tight loop, he launched Mega Charizard straight towards the ground at high speed. _"Seismic Toss!"_

 _"Oh no you don't!"_ Mega Charizard responded, tail snaking out behind him to drag Charizard along. _"If I'm going down, you're –"_

His statement was interrupted by twin _thud_ s, one of which knocked the wind out of him. A cloud of smoke bloomed up from the place of impact, obscuring the audience's view of the field.

"That's it for Charizard." Ash announced from the sidelines, pulling out a Pokéball and sending a beam of energy into the cloud. "Trevor wasn't kidding when he said you were strong. Neither was Professor Sycamore."

Alain smiled back as Mega Charizard hoisted himself back to his feet. "Thanks. Your Charizard is impressive too – with a Mega Stone of his own, he might have even had the upper hand. Now, let's see how your Greninja fares against my Mega Charizard!"

Ash grinned. "With pleasure. Greninja, I choose you!"

 _"…and carry the six, then divide by three to stay below the limit…"_ Greninja looked up from the notepad he was scribbling in. _"Oh, is it my turn already? From the way Charizard was bragging earlier, I would have expected him to last longer."_

Ash fixed him with a Look. "I know you don't really mean that."

Greninja shrugged, tossing the notebook over to his Trainer. _"Maybe not, but I wanted to see how Alain's Charizard would react. Leave him guessing and all that."_

"Right, the whole 'ninja' thing." Ash looked over to Alain. "Sorry for dragging this out – it just kinda happened. I know it's gotta be worse for you since you can't understand what he's saying."

"Considering what I've seen of you, I'm not surprised." Alain responded. "Besides, the longer you take, the more time Charizard has to recover."

Ash's face grew slightly more serious. "Well, in that case…" Opening up his Bond with Greninja, he slowed the pulse of his heartbeat to match Greninja's. _You ready to do this?_

 _Bring it on._ With a burst of steam (a strategy for obscuring the transformation inspired by Volcanion, and much more energy-efficient than the original cyclone), Greninja changed into his special Forme and created a pair of Double Team duplicates – all of whom immediately broke off in different directions.

"Flamethrower and spin!" Alain ordered, immediately getting back into battle mode.

 _When I tell you what to do, have one of your Double Team duplicates do it, okay?_ "Into the air!" Ash yelled, crouching as if to jump himself.

"Track it with your Flamethrower!" Alain countered. Mega Charizard immediately halted his rotation, turning his head to follow the leaping frog. "Now, grab behind you with Dragon Claw!"

To Ash's shock, Charizard was able to stop Greninja's surprise attack in its tracks. _Why didn't that work?_ he wondered, brain racing to update his battle plan.

"I figured you were going to try something like that after seeing your battle against Sawyer yesterday." Alain said triumphantly. "And now your Greninja has nowhere to go. Flamethrower, now!"

Another idea sparked in Ash's mind. "Quick, spit water into his mouth – as much as you can!"

Alain's mouth twitched upwards in a grin. "Too late. There's no way he can put out fire that hot."

"Who said that was what I was going for?" Ash answered with a grin of his own. "Remember Greninja's transformation earlier? Now, think about what happens when water gets really, really hot."

An explosion of steam took place inside Charizard's maw, the concussive force knocking his head off-target while simultaneously launching Greninja out of his grip. "Steel Wing, now!" Alain ordered frantically, his Charizard's wings hardening just in time to shield him from Greninja's follow-up Cut. "Now fly up to gain some height!"

"I thought you said you watched my battle with Sawyer." Ash responded as Greninja flew up on wings of Water to follow. "Flying away isn't going to help you against Greninja."

Alain raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? Charizard, evaporate his Water Shuriken with a Flamethrower!"

"Climb up the Flamethrower to reach him!" Ash countered, mentally communicating his strategy to Greninja. With a mighty _flap_ , he ascended just above the column of flames – and then channeled Water energy through his feet, allowing him to leap higher into the air using localized steam explosions. "Now, jump off his head and then use Water Shuriken!"

Greninja vaulted off the Dragon-type's snout, forcing his mouth shut, and threw his massive shuriken down onto Mega Charizard from above. Thanks to conservation of momentum, the speed of his attack provided a counter-force that held off the effects of gravity long enough for him to regenerate his 'wings.' He then swooped down in its shadow, channeling the energy for an Aerial Ace into his hands and feet.

"Cut through it with Dragon Claw!"

 _"The neck…"_ Greninja intoned as he swept in past Charizard's guard, _"…and the wings. The three most vulnerable areas in your defense. Sorry about this, but you're grounded."_ In much the same way as Weavile had done to Noivern, he knocked Charizard's wings out of alignment so that he couldn't fly any more.

His victory was short-lived, however, as Charizard grabbed him with his still-active Dragon Claws while falling. _"If I'm going down, you're going down with me!"_

 _"Yeah, yeah. The same thing you said to Charizard and all that."_ Greninja said, his Water Shuriken diminishing slightly in size as he leached energy from it. _"Too bad it won't be true."_ With another burst of steam, he created several more Double Team duplicates – which immediately vanished, turning back into Water energy. That was okay, though, because his real purpose was the steam burst: once again, Charizard's grip was loosened enough for him to escape. _"Bye-bye."_

He launched himself into the air, the force of his jump further accelerating Mega Charizard's descent. To the surprise of nearly everyone there, though, the black dragon was still able to stand after the impact.

"Sorry, Ash." Alain said, a note of finality in his voice. "But since I'm guessing you know what I'm fighting for, that also means you know why I can't let you win."

"Maybe so, but I'm not gonna back down either. Greninja, Water Shuriken – give it everything you've got!"

As the two of them extended their hands into the air, shuriken spinning above Greninja, Alain punched his fist forward. "You too, Charizard! Blast Burn!"

Right after he gave the order, something odd happened. The necklace Serena had bought Ash earlier in the day began vibrating, and tendrils of energy similar to a Mega Evolution started to snake towards Greninja from the embedded jewel. Neither Ash nor Greninja noticed, being so focused on their final attack, but Alain and Charizard were startled enough that the latter had to pause to retain control over the explosive mass of energy he had gathered.

The tendrils then connected, and a Vortex of water (the scale of which necessitated Capital Letters) erupted around Greninja before being absorbed by his Shuriken. The projectile grew to a massive size, spinning faster and faster until it resembled a disc more than it did a shuriken.

"FINISH IT, NOW!" both Trainers yelled simultaneously. Charizard punched the ground, sending a seismic wave packed with Fire towards the Water-type as Greninja released his own attack. As the two moves passed by each other, Greninja's shuriken appeared to take on an orange glow – the light of the flames beneath refracted to the point that the water itself appeared to be luminescent. The crowd _ooh_ ed in appreciation, so transfixed that they almost missed the ensuing explosions.

When the smoke cleared, both Pokémon were down on three limbs, struggling to hold themselves up. _"I won't… let you… win this…"_ Charizard grunted out, the words taking all the energy he could spare.

In response, Greninja threw a single Water Shuriken – all he could spare the energy for – muddying the ground under Charizard's claw and causing him to slip. That one last collision with the ground was the final straw, and Mega Charizard's eyes turned into swirls as he de-transformed. _"Word of advice: if you're both on your last legs, don't waste your breath talking."_ Greninja told his fallen opponent, catching his breath and heaving himself into a _seiza_ position.

"Charizard is unable to battle – which means that with two Pokémon remaining, Ash Ketchum is the champion of this year's League competition!" the referee announced, breaking the spell of silence that had fallen over the crowd. A wave of applause began slowly, building in intensity as more people joined in. Ash, however, ignored it, walking quickly over to Charizard and sending a pulse of healing Aura into the atmosphere surrounding his wing-joints.

"His wings are going to be sore for a while, but as long as he gets treatment at a Pokémon Center it shouldn't really interfere with his flight." he told Alain, who nodded in thanks before returning his ace.

"Congratulations, Ash. If anyone deserves to have defeated me, it's you." He extended his hand as a display of sportsmanship, and Ash clasped it firmly.

"Thanks a lot. Honestly, that could have gone either way if Charizard had stayed standing – Pikachu and Greninja are a lot better at hitting hard than they are at taking hits."

The corner of Alain's mouth twitched up as the handshake finished. "Huh. Maybe so, but you still beat me fair and square. Besides, I didn't do this for the recognition."

Ash's grin dimmed slightly. "Right. I hope Chespie gets better soon. And you probably ought to talk to Mairin – we ran into her this morning, and she seemed pretty worried about you."

Alain nodded, tucking his hands into his pockets. "Yeah, I still haven't been able to talk to Professor Sycamore like your friend suggested yet either. I'll try and find time after the award ceremony."

Ash blinked. "Oh yeah, I completely forgot about that thanks to Charizard. Speaking of which, you'd better let Nurse Joy take a look at him while they get it set up. Pikachu already left with Noivern, so Charizard won't be the only one getting a checkup."

"I think I might just take you up on that suggestion." Alain responded, turning to walk back into the stadium hallway. "Let's just hope I collected enough Mega Evolution energy for Lysandre's plan – Chespie's been sick for way too long."

 ** _Ohohoho, I see… Going for a little dramatic irony, are we?_**

Be quiet, you.

* * *

"You did it, Ash!" Serena celebrated as he returned to the waiting room, punctuating her statement with a kiss so enthusiastic it literally left him breathless. "Now you're one step closer to completing your lifelong dream!"

Ash wrapped his arms around her in response, resting his cheek on top of her head as it laid on his shoulder. "Yeah, but it's kind of strange. Aside from the same temporary burst of excitement that I recognize from level-ups back when we were trapped in SAO, I don't really _feel_ any different than before. Almost as if the League itself wasn't what was important…"

"Well, you and Klein always told me that the experiences and bonds developed by the journey were more important than the individual destination." Kazuto interrupted, drawing his attention. "Maybe not as concisely, but that's kind of the feeling I got from talking to you about that kind of stuff. Congrats, by the way."

"Yeah, great job Ash!" Korrina chimed in, pumping her fist vigorously. "That Hydro Vortex thingy Greninja did to power up his Water Shuriken was super-duper cool!"

Ash's eyebrows wrinkled slightly. "I don't remember that, but that might just be because Greninja and I were focusing so hard. I'm guessing based on how you just described it that it was sort of like how Greninja used to transform, right?"

Clemont nodded. "It was pretty similar, come to think of it. What I'm curious about is why it made your necklace glow like Alain's bracelet does whenever he Mega-Evolves his Charizard."

"Wait, it did?" Ash nudged Serena to the side so he could fish the object in question out from under his shirt. "I mean, I knew this was special because of who gave it to me, but I didn't know it was special in _that_ kind of way…"

The end of the chain came into view, revealing an empty setting where the diamond-shaped crystal that had caught Serena's eye was originally housed. _I could've sworn this looked jewel-ier…_ he mused, sharing the thought with Serena. On a whim, he examined it with Aura Sight – which allowed him to sense an echo of released power saturating the material. _Where did the vendor say this came from again?_

 _He said the guy who sold it to him picked it up on a beach in an island region called Alola. Lemme guess, that's where you want to travel next?_

Instead of answering her directly, Ash tucked the necklace back into his shirt. "Well, that settles it. Once I'm done in Kalos, I'm gonna head back home for a while and then head to Alola to see what I can find out about what happened. If it's okay with you, that is." he added, looking at Serena.

"Are you kidding? Why would I pass up the chance to take a vacation like that, especially if it means I get to keep traveling with you?"

Kazuto cut in cheekily. "Well, you know what they say: 'Absence makes the heart grow fonder' and all that."

Serena turned to fixate him with a stare. "You'd better watch yourself, or you might just have another shoelace incident."

The black-haired swordsman blinked several times before facepalming. "Of _course_ that was you – I should've guessed once I heard about your weird psychic superpowers. Klein said it happened to him too when he and Silica were trying to trick you guys into admitting you liked each other, which should have been a major clue, but Silica claimed it was a running gag or something like that."

 _"I am confused, Master. What is this 'shoelace incident' your companions speak of?"_ Genos asked.

Ash grinned as a look of horror began to grow on Kazuto's face. "Well, you see, it was like this –"

"Ash Ketchum, would you please return to the stadium? The ceremony is about to begin." an official interrupted, poking his head in through the door.

"Go on, Ash." Serena told her boyfriend, unwrapping her arms and stepping back. "This is your moment of recognition, so head on out there and give them something to cheer for!"

She tilted her head up to give him one last bit of encouragement, but he pre-empted her by moving in first. "Sure thing, Serena." he said as he pulled away and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "And I already know you'll be cheering the loudest of all."

He turned to walk out the door, only to pause halfway through the doorway. "Although if you'd rather not lose your voice, I understand – I'll be able to hear you no matter how hard you cheer."

"That's sweet and all, but _go_." she responded, shooing him out the door.

"All right, already…"

Ash walked out into the hallway, the roar of the crowd already growing in his ears. _That's one step down on my journey to become a Master. Let's see where the road of life leads me next._

* * *

Omake: I Have No Excuse for This One

 _…This is_ _ **so**_ _not where I expected that road to take me._ Ash thought, sweatdropping. _That kid's so hyperactive, he's even worse than Bonnie on a stomach full of sugar! His friend sitting over there by himself reminds me way too much of Paul for his own good, and their_ _ **other**_ _friend…_

"YOU'RE LATE!" she shrieked at the top of her lungs, bangs slipping out from under her headband in a flurry of pink. "We've been here waiting for you to show up for _two hours_!"

 _Which is what confuses me…_ he thought, idly brushing chalk dust out of his hair as he caught the eraser that had been wedged in the doorframe above him. _I didn't think I_ _ **was**_ _expected anywhere. Eh, may as well go along with it._ "Sorry about that." he apologized. "I sort of got lost traveling on the road of life – it's kind of an accidental habit of mine."

Unfortunately, all this seemed to do was enrage her further. "Are you saying you're going to be this late _ALL_ the time?"

"Maa, how adorable." a voice interrupted from the corner. "So my cute little students believe that you're their new jōnin-sensei, do they?" As he spoke, a silver-haired man emerged from the shadows, visible eye crinkling to indicate a smile beneath his mask. "Any chance I could convince you to take over the teaching for me?"

The blond boy whipped his head around to stare at the new arrival. "Wait, _you_ 're Kakashi-sensei? How long have you been here?"

Kakashi eye-smiled again. "I just snuck in through the door while you were distracted, and only he was able to see underneath the underneath and detect me. And before you ask, I ran into a black cat and had to take the long way around so the bad luck would wear off."

"Then what's _he_ doing here?" the loner asked brusquely, ignoring the other two's protests at the lame excuse.

"Maa, Sasuke-kun, can't you guess? I needed someone to fall for the eraser trap." Kakashi answered, straight-faced. (Admittedly, it was much easier for him since only a quarter of his face was visible.) "Actually, I don't know." He lifted his makeshift eyepatch to reveal a red eye that appeared to contain three black commas swimming in circles, and Ash sensed a spike of energy pass through it as it scanned him.

After several seconds, Kakashi nodded. "Maa, maa, I see. We are currently trapped within a rare form of genjutsu known as an _omake_. It is incredibly strong and incredibly specialized, and must be dispelled using a specific set of trigger words." Crossing two fingers from each hand in a ram seal, he pulsed his chakra outwards in a burst while shouting.

"NEXT CHAPTER!"


	10. Chapter 10

As Ash stood on the podium, Diantha and the other officials positioned in front of him, he could barely stop the corners of his mouth from twitching downwards. _I don't understand. This is supposed to be happy and exciting – so_ **why** _do I feel apprehensive about this? It doesn't feel like normal accepting-an-award nervousness, I know that at least. But where do I remember feeling this before…?_

He didn't have time to contemplate further, though, as Diantha began speaking immediately afterwards. "Citizens of Kalos, we are gathered here today to honor and acknowledge the achievements of this year's Conference Champion. Overcoming the overwhelming strength of Mega Evolution, persevering through whatever challenges faced him, and letting his battles soar to new heights."

There was a smattering of laughter amongst the crowd at her words (especially from her staff members, who were aware that the opening sentences had been written well before the semi-finals took place). She graciously paused until it had run its course before continuing. "But as I am sure you all know, this has not been his only achievement here: the good Professor Sycamore informs me that Lumiose owes him a great debt for saving the city from an enraged Garchomp on the day he first arrived in Kalos. As a foreigner, he would have been well within his rights to simply report the incident to the authorities and be done with it – but instead he selflessly set aside his own safety to ensure the well-being of Pokémon, even to the point of sacrificing himself to save his Pikachu."

A small smile slipped onto her face. "And yes, that is the same Pikachu you all just saw take down a Tyranitar and a Metagross. It is my firm belief that this strength came about as a result of the bonds he has with his partners and the care he has for Pokémon, and that these are both qualities we ought to seek to emulate. Not just the strength of will and trust that enables Mega Evolution, but strength of character as well."

Diantha then turned to address Ash directly. "On behalf of the people of Lumiose City, I thank you for your service, and on behalf of this region's branch of the Pokémon League Committee, I congratulate you on your victory." She handed him an ornate sculpture, topped by the image of a Pokéball. "This trophy serves as a recognition of your abilities and a testament to your skill, and it is my great honor to be able to present it to you. Do you have any words you would like to say?"

Ash scratched the back of his neck, accepting the trophy with his left hand. "I guess just thanks and – _GET DOWN!_ " Reflexively, Diantha ducked, and a massive black-and-red root shot through the space where her head had just been. Almost immediately afterwards, a glowing blue blade cut through it and it fell, revealing Ash with a sword composed of Aura in his hand as the other zipped up his backpack. _Do you have any idea what's going on?_ he asked Serena as the crowd began vacating the stadium in a panic.

 _About halfway through Diantha's speech, Squishy started acting odd._ she told him, mental voice sounding concerned. _Then, right before you yelled, I felt a faint pulse of_ _ **something**_ _– but it was apparently strong enough to make him run off without saying anything else. Bonnie and I are following him now._

 _Huh, now that I think about it, the energy in these roots_ _ **does**_ _feel sort of like Squishy. Different, though – it feels warped, almost as if it was mixed with another type of energy I've felt before that it wasn't supposed to be._

"Ash, do you know where Mairin is?" Alain interrupted him. "You said you ran into her this morning; did she say anything then?"

"Yeah, she said she was going to be watching the battle with Lysandre…" Something _click_ ed into place, and Ash took a closer look at the Mega Ring Alain was wearing. "Hold on, he told you that you were collecting Mega Evolution energy to heal Chespie, right?"

"Yeah – but why is that important right now?"

Ash's reply stopped Alain in his tracks. "Because these roots are full of the same energy as the Mega Ring he gave you, and it feels like it's being used to manipulate the energy of a Pokémon. Does Lysandre by any chance have a green Pokémon with one eye and a colored jewel in its stomach with him?"

Alain's eyes widened. "You're saying _this_ is – Mega Evolution Energy and Z2?"

Ash nodded. "Unless I'm mistaken, which I highly doubt, Lysandre's been keeping his _real_ plans secret from you this whole time. Which means Serena and I were right not to trust him when he tried to find out how Greninja's transformation works this morning."

"But why would he…" Alain's voice trailed off as he recalled his conversation with Kazuto. "Is he really trying to take over the world?"

Ash's face darkened. "Either that or destroy it. Which means we need to find Mairin and the others as soon as possible."

Alain clenched his fist. "But if Mairin is with Lysandre, or even _was_ … he's bound to have someone standing by to take her hostage. And she'll probably trust them, since she doesn't know. There might even be an executive officer there, too."

Ash sighed. "And on top of that, we need to get to Lysandre so we can stop him. You said he trusts you, so there wouldn't be a problem there – unless you ended up fighting against that officer and he or she told Lysandre, which would mean…"

His eyes lit up as an idea came to him, and he quickly sent a copy of himself to go find Professor Sycamore. "I think I know a way we can get to him. If Professor Sycamore is there to watch Mairin, you can pretend to still be loyal to Lysandre and capture me. That way we'll probably get taken straight to him. And since the Professor is gonna know about the plan, he can play along and tell Mairin afterwards so she doesn't hate you for it."

Alain turned to face him, eyes burning. "One change. Instead of me capturing you, I pretend to be having a conflict of loyalties between my evil boss and my naïve but well-meaning rival while _they_ do the capturing. I've worked with them before, and they'll be much more likely to buy that than the original plan."

Ash nodded in assent, and they began running for the exit again. As they did, he relayed the plan to Serena, who had a counter-suggestion of her own. _Gotcha. Do you think we should try and rescue Chespie while you're up against Lysandre?_

A swirl of images assaulted his mind, including Kazuto and Clemont typing rapidly on a set of keyboards while Korrina watched nervously, Blaziken Mask standing protectively over a worried Bonnie, and Mairin staring up at Serena with a hopeful look on her face in an unfamiliar set of hallways.

Her voice then echoed in his mind again, much more quietly than before. _Ouch. Sorry you had to feel that too – I forgot how bad of a headache that gave me last time. Don't worry, I can still fight, though. I just won't be able to use my psychic abilities for a while once this link goes down._

Ash sent a pulse of energy across the connection, along with a sense of encouragement. _Well, at least we know where people need to go now. And I know you already know this, but stay as safe as you can out there. I don't want you to get hurt._

A weak surge of affection managed to make it back along the decaying connection. _Y..u ..oo. ….v.. y…. ..sh._

 _Love you too, Serena._ he replied, closing off his end. _Now let's go save the world!_

* * *

As Ash and Alain approached the balcony near Lysandre's viewing box, Ash scanned the area for any concealed Flare agents. His job was made harder by the fact that Zygarde's roots were everywhere, saturating the air with their twisted Mega Evolution energy, but he managed to scope out the situation just before they came into earshot. Tapping Alain on the shoulder, he held up four fingers on each hand.

 _Four enemies, four Pokémon with them._ Alain nodded almost imperceptibly, eyes focused on the splash of green and red that was currently calling his name. "Alain, thank goodness you're here!"

"Don't worry." he called back, not even needing to fake the protectiveness in his voice. "I'll get you out of there. Charizard, give me a lift!"

There was a surge of power from a device one of the agents held (marking that person as an executive), and the flow of the energy mixture changed to direct a pair of massive roots to erupt between them and Mairin. Alain called for a Dragon Claw and Ash for an Iron Tail, but each time one set of roots was severed another took its place.

"This isn't working – we'll have to find another way around!" Ash said loudly, both for Mairin's benefit and the hidden Flare Admin's. "Try and find Professor Sycamore, and we'll meet up with you there!"

"Okay!" Mairin yelled back. "Be careful, Alain!"

As Mairin's footsteps retreated, the concealed Admin moved from her hiding spot to a vantage point on top of the root structure. Ash, noticing this, turned as if to leave – only for a Sludge Bomb to impact the ground in front of him. "Oh no you don't. My boss wants to have a word with you, Ash."

Ash swiveled to face her, setting his feet in an aggressive stance when she came into his field of vision. "You – you're one of the ones who was after Squishy in the cave, weren't you?"

The woman laughed. "I'm _so_ flattered that you remember me. But like I said, _you're_ my target this time. One of my colleagues is going after Z-1." Her voice took on a sing-song quality. "Come along, Alain. We wouldn't want to keep Lysandre waiting, would we?"

If Alain didn't know better, he would have sworn the incredulity in Ash's voice was genuine. "Wait, you two know each other?"

A snort escaped her lips. "Know each other? We work for the same boss. And Alain, that boss is _ordering_ you to give him a face-to-face report right now."

"The same boss? Alain, what's she talking about?" Ash grabbed Alain's wrist, pretending to try and pull him away, but Alain stood firmly in place with a trying-and-failing-to-hide-my-emotions look on his face. "C'mon, Alain, we need to go find Mairin!"

"I'm afraid you can't do that." the woman stated, snapping her fingers. As if they had been waiting for a signal, three Flare grunts emerged from the shadows and surrounded them.

"Don't worry, Pikachu." Ash said, voice full of confidence. "We can take care of them all, even without Alain's help."

"Ah-ah-ah. We knew we couldn't stand up to you in a straight fight, so we had a contingency plan. Drapion, Confuse Ray!"

A series of glowing yellow orbs was launched toward him, and he snorted inwardly at their slow pace (relatively speaking). _If you were really serious, you wouldn't have wasted that time monologuing. I probably could have taken out half these Pokémon myself by now…_ Retreating into his 'mental mansion,' he closed all the 'doors' to the outside to prevent the mindscape-warping technique from disturbing his own mind. _I'll play along to find Lysandre, but good luck actually affecting me with that._

Unfortunately for him, his clone chose that exact moment to dispel and come sauntering back into his mindscape to unload its memories. "Hey, Boss – what are you doing in here? And what's with all those weird color-swirly things outside? The Professor just found Mairin, by the way."

The swirling wave of yellow rushed in through the now-open door and turned the 'room' upside down (literally in some cases, metaphorically in others). Thankfully, the effect was contained to that room and that room only, but the fact still remained that it _had_ affected him. And now, if he wanted to be able to fight effectively later, he had to actually _be_ unconscious (for all intents and purposes) rather than _pretend_ to be so he could re-organize his thoughts.

"Eh heh heh… whoops. Good thing for me I'm about to disappear, right?"

Ash looked around the room at the piles of scattered paper, and wondered not for the first time why he had chosen a newspaper archive room to organize his memories of encounters with Legendary Pokémon. _Man, this paperwork is going to take me_ _ **forever**_ _to get through…_ he griped, vaguely aware of his physical body being restrained and loaded onto an airship. _*sigh* If nothing else, maybe I can find and remember an old tactic that Lysandre may not be expecting._ Cracking his knuckles, he began to tackle the one task that was the bane of Rock-type Gym Leaders everywhere.

* * *

Half a region away, the Anistar Gym leader was cut off by Grant sneezing on the other end of the phone line. _"Sorry about that. You were saying there was an emergency?"_

Olympia nodded mysteriously. "The threads of fate are being woven anew, and I sense that all our combined strength shall be needed to defend the world against its impending doom. The Mentor, the Apprentice, the Hero, and the Guardian are doing what they can, but against this Fire none can stand alone. The city of the Star shall be our gathering place, for the Crystal Dragon desires to swallow the Sun."

Her statement was followed by several seconds of silence, during which Grant blinked disorientedly. _"Well, that definitely sounds ominous. By 'city of the Star,' I'm guessing you mean Anistar City?"_

This time, Olympia's nod seemed less mysterious. "I believe so. And I sincerely apologize if you are confused, but my abilities drain too much of my strength if the vision is not vague or cryptic."

Grant held back a chuckle. _"Got it. Do you want me to call some of the other Gym Leaders so we can get ready faster?"_

Olympia's mouth twitched upward. "Why do you think I contacted you first? You tell Ramos and Wulfric, while I alert Valerie and Viola. The other two shall come in their own timing."

 _"Right."_ The image on the screen _wink_ ed away – coinciding eerily with the blackout of every other screen in the vicinity.

"And so it begins…" Olympia intoned gravely, dialing the next number on her list as the image of a fiery stylized F swirled into place on the television.

* * *

 _"Greetings, citizens of Kalos._ " a commanding voice announced over the hijacked news feed. _"For those of you who do not know me, my name is Lysandre. This symbol you see on your screens is the mark of Team Flare: an organization which seeks to return the world to perfection, and by doing so to bring peace to this land."_

The image shifted to show a massive red-and-black serpentine Pokémon perched atop Prism Tower and gazing over the city. _"This is the Legendary Pokémon known as Zygarde, and it is angry with the corruption and selfishness that have invaded our world. We, being of the same mind, have allied ourselves with this powerful Pokémon – and in return, Team Flare shall be allowed to lead the world into this bright new era."_

"Yeah, right." Kazuto scoffed as the group stopped so Bonnie could catch her breath. "More like they made Zygarde angry but hypnotized it into ignoring them. Nice try making yourself seem like the good guys, though."

Lysandre's pre-recorded message ignored him. _"Unfortunately, this selfishness – this_ _ **ungratefulness**_ _– has grown too deeply into our society to save from within. People steal what they do not need, withholding it from those who do and even_ _ **destroying**_ _it to increase others' dependency on them. As such, Zygarde has decided that the world must start anew, which in turn will allow both humans and Pokémon to live free of this world's corruption once again. And only those who have been judged worthy shall be allowed to remain."_

Another snort. "AKA you and your gang of fashion-blind goons?" Crouching down, Kazuto gestured to his back. "Get on, Bonnie. This may not be Aincrad, but I'm pretty sure my Strength stat is still high enough to carry you for a while."

"Thanks for that, Kazuto." Clemont said, nodding gratefully. "I would do it myself, but…" He tapped his backpack sheepishly. "Even though my endurance has been getting better, I don't think I could carry her _and_ this that far."

Korrina grinned, slinging an arm around his shoulder. "See? I _told_ ya skating would be good for you, didn't I? Now, let's get going. To Prism Tower!"

After several minutes of running, the group was intercepted by an imposing figure who stood firmly in their path. "I'm sorry, but I cannot allow you to pass."

Serena, however, would have none of it. "You can, and you _will_." she said, eyes flashing as she strode boldly forward. "Not every hero is a superhero, and even the best heroes need backup sometimes. We have a mission, and we're going to complete it – _with_ you."

Blaziken Mask blinked for several seconds, confused to the point that he missed Clembot's arrival on the scene. "I thought for sure the saying went 'with _or without_ you'…"

Serena shook her head, directing Braixen to burn away an approaching root with a flick of her hand. "I managed to catch a glimpse of the future like Olympia does, and you were there with Bonnie. That means either _we're_ going to Prism Tower with _you_ , or else _you're_ going there with _us._ "

The vigilante sighed heavily, shoulders slumping in resignation. "Fine, but stay behind me. I shall do my best to protect you all."

There was a flash of blue and silver, and Kazuto stood less than a foot away from him, the glow of Sacred Sword fading from Genos' blade as an advancing root fell into pieces. "Offer appreciated, but I feel it would be best if the lead position switched periodically to preserve strength. And whoever's _not_ running point can be carrying Bonnie. No use getting there only for one of us to be exhausted."

Blaziken Mask nodded. "Point taken." He turned away in a swirl of cloth and began swiftly walking toward the center of the city.

His next words were spoken much more quietly, as if all his bravado had vanished for a moment. "And I'm sorry you had to go through something like this before, to think of that so quickly. I hate to see that age-born-of-experience look in the eyes of a face so young."

Kazuto smiled wryly in agreement as he and the rest of the group started jogging to catch up. "Sometimes, I feel the exact same way about myself."

* * *

Up on the tower, as Lysandre explained his plan, it was taking all Alain had not to break and lash out at his employer. In keeping with the plan, he had tried to keep his reactions the same as if he was finding out for the first time – but hearing Lysandre's words and _expecting_ them made his disgust all the more potent.

"See, Alain? With the power of Zygarde on our side, we can finally have world peace."

Thankfully, Lysandre mistook his internal conflict as simple indecision, and Alain decided to play up that image as best as he could. "And how exactly does destroying the city bring about peace and protection?" he challenged, his voice cracking slightly.

Lysandre only smiled. "Ah yes, I forgot you were on the airship when my message was broadcast." His eyes then narrowed. "This peace and protection belongs only to the chosen few."

Behind him, the red Zygarde shifted to look at something around the corner, and the amusement returned to Lysandre's face. "So the prodigal finally returns to us. Welcome back, Z-1."

Squishy, standing there in his canine 10% Forme, ignored the jab. _"Speak to me, brother! What have they done to you?"_

 _"If… stands in way… is… enemy…"_ the red Zygarde rumbled in response, sending out a Dragon Pulse that Squishy's lower number of gathered Cells could not hope to match. _"Must… destroy!"_

Alain gazed on in horror as Squishy fell from the tower, reverting to his base form as he did so. The indecision now gripped him worse than ever, his brain torn between following the plan and trying to take out Lysandre where he stood.

The Flare Boss put his hand to his ear briefly, then turned to face Alain once again. "I see that you are conflicted about this. Such a shame – perhaps your friend shall be easier to persuade. And then once he sees the light, I am sure you will follow his example."

He gestured towards the platform above them with a wave of his hand, and a series of metal spheres rose up into Alain's field of vision. Suspended between those spheres were Ash and all his Pokémon – from Pikachu, Charizard, and Goodra on one side to Noivern, Hawlucha, and Talonflame on the other, with Ash and Greninja positioned in the center. All appeared to be asleep or unconscious, on top of the restraints preventing them from moving.

Alain growled. "I know that Charizard wouldn't have gone down without a fight – what did you _do_?"

"Merely had my scientists release them into a field of concentrated Hypnosis beams, Spores, and Sleep Powder." Lysandre said dismissively. "After all, I couldn't have him acting rashly before I finish giving him my offer, could I?"

His eyes were then drawn upwards as Ash began to stir. "Ah, it seems our guest is waking up. Let us hope he makes the right choice."

Zygarde roared again, punctuating Lysandre's statement with an aura of doom. And in that instant, it became crystal clear: no matter who made them, the choices made atop that tower would determine the fate of the entire world.

* * *

Omake: pls do a stopping

* * *

As soon as Kazuto saw Zygarde displayed on the video screen, he knew exactly what needed to be done. "Serena. I know you're tired from that vision you just told us about, but do you think you can muster up the energy for one last Teleport? I need to get to the top of that tower as quickly as I can."

"I don't know, but I'll try."

 _"Here, eat this."_ Braixen told her, rummaging through Serena's backpack and pulling out a Berry. _"Leppa Berries help restore attack energy faster – I learned that from Nurse Joy's emergency reference books that day we were volunteering. Even if you're not a Pokémon, it still might help, and it never hurts to try."_

Serena smiled gratefully. "Thanks, Braixen." As she chewed, she contemplated the most efficient way to Teleport him. Even when she was included, longer-distance Teleports took more energy, and third-party Teleports took even more. It was almost as if the universe itself was pushing back against her efforts to move objects to locations it didn't think they were supposed to be.

 _Too bad I can't_ _ **make**_ _the universe think we're supposed to be in a different place…_ she thought. _…or can I?_ After all, back in Aincrad, each person's location was registered as a set of three coordinates that determined where in the castle Cardinal thought you were – so what would happen if she tried changing the location metadata rather than personally moving all the information from one point to another?

The scenery **_twisted_** , and with a _pop_ of displaced air Kazuto was now standing directly in front of the raging Zygarde. Calling upon the infinite wisdom of the internet, he extended his finger and gently poked the massive snake's nose.

Immediately, the red glow around Zygarde disappeared and it began shrinking as its Cells left again. Lysandre watched, eyes wide with horror, as _months_ of his life's work went down the drain in a single minute.

"…what did you _do_?" he whispered disbelievingly, unable to comprehend what just happened.

In return, Kazuto grinned. "It's a little secret I picked up over the years I spent as a socially helpless nerd. You wanna know what it is?"

As Lysandre stood there doing his best Magikarp impression, Kazuto told him the 'secret' in his most dramatic voice.

"If ur snek not doin a happy, boop the snoot or heck off pls."


	11. Chapter 11

Being unable to eavesdrop on a misguided millionaire because a copy of yourself had disrupted the organization of your memories sucked _big-time_ , Ash decided. And of _course_ he had to be enough of a weirdness magnet so as to end up in such a bizarrely specific set of circumstances, didn't he?

Pushing aside his irritation, he reopened the doors of his mindscape and connected his consciousness back to his physical body. His eyes opened slowly, and he blinked several times to refocus them. _Right – we're on top of Prism Tower to try and get close to Lysandre._ He cast his gaze about as if confused, adopting a suitably wide-eyed expression when they landed on his trapped Pokémon and Lysandre. "Wh- what's going on…?" he asked, tugging on his bonds as if trying to escape. In reality, however, it was simply to test their strength so he knew how much force it would take to overload them later.

"I apologize for the presumption, Mr. Ketchum." Lysandre replied, bowing gracefully. "I simply wished to ensure that you would not act rashly upon meeting Zygarde, though the agents sent to retrieve you for this meeting may have acted more heavy-handedly than was my intention. You see, I was once as young and idealistic as you are, and I know from experience how easily disaster follows on the heel of assumptions."

"You mean like _assuming_ you have Zygarde under mind control because the person who knocked me out on _your orders_ tried to _steal_ the one traveling with my friends and I?" Ash shot back pointedly.

 _Ah, so_ _ **that's**_ _where Z-1 has been all this time._ Lysandre thought, arching his brow and frowning as if hurt by the accusation. "I'm curious as to how the actions of an overzealous underling would have led you to that particular conclusion. In much the same way as you are restrained right now, I simply sought to show at least one of the two Zygarde cores that we have similar aims – nowhere in my instructions did it say to steal Zygarde from your group."

Of course, he conveniently left out the fact that his instructions had not _forbid_ said action either. Since he knew the way the boy thought, he knew it was in his best interest to convince him step-by-step rather than simply offering a 'join me or else' ultimatum – though the latter was still on the table if Ash refused to see reason.

It appeared, however, that such would indeed be the case. "And trapping people until they agree with you is the right way to do that? That sounds an awful lot like what bad guys do – and I know that 'cause I run into them all the time. So what makes you think I should listen to _you_?"

Lysandre fought the urge to growl in irritation. "Perhaps the fact that I have been tasked with offering you a place among Zygarde's chosen."

Ash glared back. "Zygarde's chosen, or _your_ chosen? Alain, tell me you don't believe all this!"

Before the other teen could respond, a bright green glow erupted at the base of the tower. It quickly rose up into the air as Squishy absorbed more and more Cells, finally transforming into his snakelike 50% Forme.

"Whether you believe it or not is irrelevant." Lysandre intoned gravely as the red Zygarde leapt off the tower to confront Squishy. "Zygarde has spoken, and we must listen. I have no doubt that Z-2's power shall convince its foe of the truth."

* * *

Many thousands of miles away, a large white dragon sneezed out a massive gout of flame. _"Aw, come on!"_ a Scyther complained, its form flickering back into a Zorua. _"And you were so close that time…"_

 _"I fail to see how trimming shrubs into the shape of Bonsly and other Pokémon fits with this human concept of a 'birthday'."_ Reshiram deadpanned, pushing the scorched plant to the side with a sweep of its wing. _"Besides, I thought N said he didn't know when his birthday actually is."_

 _"Exactly!"_ Zorua yipped. _"That means he won't suspect the surprise party OR your gift! But don't worry if you can't get it exactly right – it's not the end of the world."_

* * *

"You're not gonna end this world." Kazuto growled, gripping Genos' hilt tightly as he stared down the two Flare Admins barring their entrance into Prism Tower. "Not if we can help it."

"So sure of ourselves, are we?" the orange-haired woman mocked. "Shouldn't you be more worried about Zygarde? All your friends are…"

Kazuto's mouth twitched upwards. "And that's why I'm not. I trust them to watch my back while I watch theirs. Besides, I get the feeling you would still attack anyway under the logic of 'they're not paying enough attention to us,' wouldn't you?"

The green-haired woman scoffed. "And you expect to watch all their backs at the same time? Liepard, Shadow Claw!"

She pointed to the far left of the group, furthest from where Kazuto was, and he immediately dashed over to intercept. Unfortunately, this was exactly what she wanted, as it left the _other_ end of the group wide open. "Dark Pulse, Druddigon!" her partner ordered, pointing at their exposed backs.

A purple beam cut through the air, only to be intercepted by a purple-and-orange blur that resolved itself into Professor Sycamore's Mega Garchomp. "Oh, no you don't." the Professor said firmly, drawing everyone's attention to his presence. "Good to see you, Blaziken Mask."

The vigilante nodded. "You too, Professor. According to Serena, my main priority is to keep Bonnie safe, so I'm glad you're here to help with the rest of the fight."

"Um, actually…" Serena interrupted, making sure to modulate her voice so that neither Flare Admin could make out her words. "Now that Mairin and Professor Sycamore are here, I need to go to Lysandre Labs with them to try and wake up Chespie."

"What? But –" Blaziken Mask cut his protest off as a detail from earlier occurred to him again. "Right, that vision you said you had." He turned to face the building again, cape billowing heroically. "We'll hold the line here, so get going!"

The three in that group nodded, recalling their Pokémon as Clemont sent all of his out. "Right. Thanks a bunch!" Professor Sycamore started off in the direction of his lab to retrieve a car (followed by the two girls), trusting in their friends to keep them safe until they were out of sight.

* * *

"You know, Alain, this is all thanks to you." Lysandre said, a small smile creeping up on his face as he watched the city. "For while Zygarde wants to cleanse this world, it was unable to do so under its own power. That is why it turned to us – to the strength of Mega Evolution energy that only we could provide."

"Hold on a moment!" Alain yelled. "You said I was gathering the energy to help wake Chespie up – does that mean you _lied to my face?_ "

Lysandre shook his head. "Of course not. Chespie _will_ awaken once this is all over; the energy of Zygarde contained within him shall simply protect him from the cleansing."

"But what about Mairin?" Ash cut in, drawing Lysandre's attention. "Is _she_ one of the 'chosen few' you claim Zygarde plans to save? Because with how strong her bond with Chespie is, I don't think he'd like it if you left her to die here – and that would mean your 'perfect new world' would be plagued with conflict from the very start."

Lysandre hummed softly. "Well, that will depend on your choices. If you decide, of your own free will, to join Zygarde in this endeavor, I believe it may very well listen to your request to save the person you find most precious." He saw Ash's eyes widen and the word _Serena_ slip onto his lips before the boy's gaze became slightly unfocused. "Yes; not just Mairin, but your girlfriend as well. If not, well…" He shrugged his shoulders. "Then I hope you said your farewells. A spurned Zygarde is not a forgiving Zygarde."

* * *

 _...na… Se..na - .an you me?_ Ash's voice whispered, almost unnoticeable in the blur of thought rushing uselessly through Serena's mind. _..me .n Serena, answer me!_

"Excuse me for a moment." she apologized to Professor Sycamore, shifting over to the middle of the news-copter's bench seat and closing her eyes in meditation. Once properly focused, she managed to open the mental connection from her end. _What is it, Ash?_

Thankfully, their communication link took much less energy to sustain than it did to initialize, and so she was able to then use the surplus to boost her regeneration rate as they spoke. She still wouldn't be at full strength once they reached Lysandre Labs, but hopefully it would be enough to pull off whatever she had seen herself trying to do in the vision.

 _Lysandre just told us what was wrong with Chespie!_ he 'said,' mental voice tinged with urgency. _Apparently, he absorbed some of Zygarde's energy, which is supposed to 'protect' him when Zygarde 'cleanses the world.' And while I may not be quite as good as you at detecting lies, I can tell that he's telling the truth about that. Maybe not the_ _ **whole**_ _truth about his plans, since he's still trying to pretend he's a good guy so he can convince me and Alain to join him, but he's lying by omission, not addition._

 _Got it._ Serena acknowledged, passing back the mental equivalent of a nod. _I'm gonna cut off the connection again so that I can recover faster – but stay safe, okay? At least, as safe as you can while you're_ (here she took a peek at one of his short-term memories) _suspended in hand- and foot-cuffs very close to a 400-plus-foot drop._

She got the sense of a grin from the other end. _You too, Serena. Only replace the last part with 'storming a bad guy's secret lair to rescue a sick Chespin.'_

She replied with a mental snort. _You're incorrigible, Ash._

 _I'll just have to take your word for that, since I have no idea what it means – oh,_ _ **now**_ _I get it, thanks. Have I mentioned how convenient thought-sharing is?_

 _Multiple times._ Serena replied, chuckling internally. _I'll see you again as soon as I can._

 _And I'll do my best to make sure that_ _ **can**_ _happen._ With a slight buzzing 'noise,' the connection terminated, and Serena turned her focus to her regenerative meditation once more.

* * *

"Ah, welcome back." Lysandre said as Ash sagged in his restraints, having spent a good portion of his energy almost single-handedly keeping the mental connection active so that Serena could conserve her own energy. The orange-haired man misinterpreted his slump as one of defeat, however, and decided to move on to the next step in his persuasion. "Are you ready to cooperate now?"

His hand swept out, indicating where Squishy had been restrained by Z-2's Flare-enhanced vines. "As you can see, Zygarde's anger and the strength we have given it have enabled it to overcome its misguided counterpart – but your assistance would enable us to carry out the plan much faster. I am speaking, of course, of the Bond Phenomenon you and Greninja appear to share."

At Alain's surprised look, he continued. "To achieve a transformation like the two of you have – one comparable to Mega Evolution, but _without_ the use of a Mega Stone or a Key Stone – is something that only happens once in a lifetime, perhaps even once in a millennium. When combined with the power you were able to tap into at the end of your battle with Alain, that puts you in the perfect position to be the greatest herald of this new world. With your power on our side, nothing will be able to stand in our way."

To his own surprise, he witnessed the corner of Ash's mouth twist upwards. "Just like I said: you sound _exactly_ like a bad guy. My answer is still no."

Lysandre sighed, realizing that Ash's devotion to his ideals was too strong to break subtly. "That wasn't a request." he stated brusquely, snapping his fingers and summoning a pair of camera-like drones that fluttered around like Ninjask. "Your power will serve us, whether you like it or not."

The drones lit up the same red color as the enraged Zygarde, and Ash grinned. _Gotcha. Now that you've revealed your true colors, you'll be expecting Alain to be paralyzed with indecision while I struggle helplessly, won't you? Well, prepare to be disappointed._ "So we're dropping the masks now, are we? Okay then, bring it on!"

Lysandre's eyes narrowed. "So you _wanted_ me to capture you, intending to use your Bond Phenomenon to escape. But how will you do that if you cannot concentrate enough to activate it?" The drones began shooting beams of light at Ash and Greninja – only to be deflected up into the sky by a shimmering barrier of solid blue.

"Actually, that wasn't what I was intending at all." Ash said, dispelling the Aura Barrier he had formed in front of his chest. "And you just made it even easier for me. See, Aura in its most basic form is energy, and I've had a considerable amount of practice converting from one type of energy to another." He closed his eyes, breathing in deeply as the red energy enveloped him, and then opened them with a blue flash. **"Nami no Hōshutsu: Denryoku Henkan!"**

As he spoke, the deep red glow of the energy darkened to an almost blackish purple – which then appeared to begin pulsating around him. With each cycle, its color paled until it was the same color as Greninja's Water Shuriken, almost as if the Mega Evolution energy was itself transforming. A small amount around each containment orb then changed frequency, literally vibrating the metal apart, and Lysandre stepped back in astonishment. A small part of him then registered the danger, and he inconspicuously pressed a button on his pocketed Holo Caster to signal Xerosic that it was time to act. Without his cybernetics, he would be able to do little more than stall against an opponent like Ash.

Ash's next move then unintentionally played into his hands. With no way to safely corral that much energy for an extended period of time, he decided to humor Lysandre and activate Greninja's Bond, shunting all the excess energy to the water cyclone that normally accompanied the transformation. It might have been a bit flashy, but one lesson he had learned in Aincrad was that showmanship could – if used properly – be an effective intimidator. (That was also why he had chosen to yell out a set of words that felt like they fit the technique rather than do it silently.) Unfortunately, that also meant that it drew the attention of everyone else within eyesight.

Including Squishy, who was then unprepared when the beam from Xerosic's machine hit _him_. As such, the brainwashing process only took about five seconds rather than the fifteen it would have if he was able to resist.

Lysandre's satisfaction was short-lived, though. For one thing, Greninja had just destroyed the restraint mechanisms holding Ash's other Pokémon with a brace of Water Shuriken – and for another, Alain's fist was now buried in his gut. "I _trusted_ you, and you _used_ me…" Alain growled, putting enough force behind his punch that Lysandre had to take a step backward despite his bulletproof vest.

"I did." Lysandre acknowledged smoothly, attempting to stall as long as he could. And now that he was expecting it, Alain's next anger-fueled blow was easy to evade. "Just as I used Steven, Malva, and all those who allied themselves with me, knowledgeable of my plans or not. And this is exactly _why_ you did not know – in your foolish idealism, you believe that the wrongs of the world do not deserve a purging of this scale, and so now you are actively working against me."

An aura of electricity sparked around Ash's hands, and an anger not completely his own surfaced. **_"So you believe that Ideals are foolish, do you?"_** he challenged, voice taking on an almost draconian tone. **_"Come up here and say that to my face!"_** _Okay, looks like being Chosen by Zekrom had more lasting effects than I thought…_ he noted absently, mentally filing the phenomenon for later analysis.

"If you insist…" Lysandre conceded, holding out his arms to allow his jetpack and vambrace to latch on and then hovering up to Ash's level. "And I thank you for showing me why you cling so stubbornly to your beliefs. You traveled in Unova and encountered Zekrom, the Dragon of Ideals, did you not?"

Ash was somewhat confused by the sudden change of topic, but decided not to let his confusion show. "Yeah, what of it?"

Behind him, Alain flew up on his Charizard and stood with Ash's group.

"Tell me," Lysandre said, palming a pair of Pokéballs. "Do the legends there ever tell of ideals overcoming truth in the long run?"

This time, Ash _did_ let the confusion show. "How should I know? I never read those things… I mean, I always get mixed up with them anyway, which means I end up learning what I need to know firsthand – and besides, I'm usually with somebody else who _does_ know them well enough that I don't need to."

 _"That's Ash for ya."_ Pikachu chimed in. _"Street smart…ish… but book dumb."_ He playfully socked his Trainer in the temple from his perch on his shoulder. _"And of course, dumb luck. Lots and lots of dumb luck."_

Lysandre blinked at how casual they were acting before recomposing himself. "During my time researching the legends of the world, I spent several months funding a man named Ghetsis in exchange for access to his records of said legends, and do you know what I discovered?" His eyes narrowed. "That neither truth nor ideals alone win out in the end – but that ideals must be tempered by truth in order to stand a chance of triumphing. I learned the truth of this world the hard way, and it showed me that perfection cannot be gained without first burning away the imperfections. Without understanding this truth, any sort of idealism is foolishness."

"Oh really?" Ash said fiercely. "And what _is_ this 'truth' you say you learned?"

Lysandre's jaw set in a frown. "That people, at their core, are selfish. You see, I once believed that the problems of this world could be solved if the rich gave freely to those less fortunate than themselves. That way nobody would lack what they needed, and everybody would be happy. And so I became a philanthropist, distributing necessities to those who could not afford them.

"Of course, such an endeavor was much too large for one person on his own." he continued, seeing his opponents' guard relax slightly as he talked. "To offset this problem, I established an organization of like-minded individuals – a Flare of hope for the world. And, for a time, my vision came true. People received the gifts I provided, and they rejoiced."

Ash quirked an eyebrow, shifting into a relaxed position that could easily transition to offense or defense. "I'm sensing a 'but' coming in there somewhere. This sounds way too happy to be a reason to destroy the world."

Lysandre sighed in annoyance, but didn't attempt to pointlessly correct him. " _But_ before long, they began to take my help for granted. Some even went so far as to _expect_ it, believing that they had a 'right' to the things I gave them out of my own goodwill. Their demands grew to greater and greater levels, and I soon saw that my attempts to help were only feeding the cycle. No matter how much was given, the people's sense of entitlement would only grow ever greater, until they destroyed themselves. The only way to break this cycle would be to begin completely anew – to recreate the world in such a way that such conflict could never again arise."

His arms swept forward, releasing his Gyarados and Pyroar from their Pokéballs. "Unfortunately for you, it appears this new world has no place for either of you. Pyroar, Gyarados, take them out!"

* * *

"Grr… I can't believe we got taken out so easily!" Aliana grumbled, struggling to escape from Clembot's cable trap. "This is all your fault, Bryony!"

Her green-haired partner glared back (though the face-concealing eyewear she sported somewhat lessened the effect). " _MY_ fault? _You_ were the one who messed up that perfect shot I gave you – I had them all in one place for Druddigon's Hyper Beam, but then you had to go and ignore the battle to stare at that big light up on the tower! So don't you go saying–"

"Oh, just shut up." Kazuto interrupted, sheathing the newly-evolved Genos back into its scabbards. "That right there is exactly why you lost: your teamwork only lasts until something goes wrong, and then it's every man for himself. Well, that and the fact that you were up against two Mega Evolutions _and_ somebody who's been fighting with swords for years. Thanks for unlocking me Dual Blades again, by the way."

"…And Kazuto, you're with me." Clemont finished up, tapping him on the shoulder. "You said you have experience with computer programming, so I figure you should be on the team going to shut down that mind control machine they're using."

"And I'm going to go help out Squishy!" Bonnie said with finality, grabbing Blaziken Mask's wrist and dragging him off in the direction of the two Zygarde. "Serena said you were coming with me, so hurry up!"

Kazuto nodded, keeping his eyes on the Flare Admins. "Got it. I feel like we shouldn't just leave these two dangling here, though, since someone might come along and free them again. But how to put them out of commission…" An idea occurred, and he tapped Genos on one of his tassels. _Genos, do you think this would work without being lethal?_

After several seconds, Genos replied. _I believe so, Master. Working with you thus far has enabled me to analyze the sensation of soul-draining, and my recent boost in abilities should give me the control I need to halt the process before their souls actually depart from their bodies. At the worst, they should only remain comatose for a day or two._

 _Better that than nobody here living past today because they warned their teammates._ Kazuto thought grimly. _Go ahead._ He walked forward to stand between the two, and the tassels snaked out to briefly grab each Admin's ankle and render them unconscious. "Right, let's go." he said, swiveling his head just enough to meet Clemont's eyes. "The world isn't going to save itself, you know."

Clemont blinked a few times before following him through the front door of the Tower. "Hold on, how does _that_ follow from what we were saying?"

"It doesn't." Clembot piped up as he shadowed Korrina in. "He just wanted to close out the exchange with a snarky yet vaguely heroic one-liner."

"Which you just _ruined_ by spelling it out." Kazuto shot back. "Thanks for nothing, by the way."

"You are quite welcome." Clembot deadpanned in response (made quite easy by the fact that he was an android). "I look forward to seeing how you use it to improve your wit."

Turning to face the security cameras, he flashed a robotic grin and thumbs-up for the next person who watched the footage. "And that, my friends, is how you _properly_ end on a one-liner. YOSH!"

* * *

Omake: There Is No Soul Way to Lace Up Loopholes

* * *

 _…Is it sad that I almost feel like I'm getting_ _ **used**_ _to this?_ Kazuto thought as he stumbled through another universe portal and into the middle of a field. The scent of death immediately hit his nose, causing him to gag but also putting him on guard. His ears twitched, a faint sensation of pressure on his temples due to their shape revealing that he was once again in the form of his online avatar.

A massive wave of killing intent erupted behind him, and he whipped around just in time to block a massive spiked flail with the dual swords sheathed across his back. The enemy's mount, a giant black dragon-like creature, roared intimidatingly – but all that did was draw Kirito's attention, and he quickly decapitated it with Double Circular.

 ** _"Foolish creature."_** the rider hissed, its face obscured by voluminous black robes and an ornately-spiked metal helmet. **_"Why do you stand in our way?"_**

"Because you chose to attack where I was standing, apparently." Kirito snarked in return, wracking his brain to figure out _why_ this scene seemed so familiar as he Parried the strikes of the giant flail. "Plus, _that_ makes it kind of obvious that you're evil."

Kirito briefly got the sensation that his opponent was blinking at him in confusion. **_"You just gestured to all of me."_** Soon, however, the killing intent returned. **_"But no matter. You, like all the others, shall soon perish – for it has been prophesied that no Man alive can kill me."_**

That statement was the final piece of the puzzle, and Kirito grinned in realization. "And what if it's not a man attacking you?"

 ** _"Men, Elves, and Dwarves have all tried, but none have succeeded."_** the Nazgûl replied, the chain of its flail wrapping around Kirito's sword and yanking it from his hand. **_"And so you shall also fail, little Elf-Man."_**

"You underestimate my power." Kirito told him in response, making a swirling motion with his hand that caused the entangled weapons to wrap around the Witch-King and restrain him.

A deep, guttural laugh came from its shadowy maw. **_"You may have temporarily ensnared my physical form, but none such as you can kill a Wraith of Sauron."_**

Kirito just smiled smugly. "So you're saying I can't destroy you since I can't harm your soul?"

 ** _"That's about it, yes."_**

"Exactly what I thought." Kirito snapped his fingers, and the jewels on his swords' hilts flashed brightly. "Genos, do your thing!"


	12. Chapter 12

**.**

 **A/N: I profusely apologize for the schedule slip - all of my examinations took place early this term, and updating completely slipped my mind. Here's the chapter that should have come out two days ago.**

"Geez, could ya go any slower?" Korrina complained, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "This is taking for- _EV-_ er!"

"Actually, he could." Kazuto said in response as the corner of his mouth quirked up. "It might not seem exciting, but brute-force hacking to guess the new password is the fastest way we have to get in aside from busting down the door."

"So why _don't_ we do that?" she asked, making an effort to still her fidgeting for Clemont's sake. "I mean, we've got a Mega Lucario _right here_ …"

Clemont put his hand on her shoulder, sporting a wry grin. "Because I'd rather not have to repair the door on top of everything else. There's only so many codes they could have changed it to, so it shouldn't take too much longer."

"As a matter of fact, I have just deciphered the appropriate combination." Clembot interjected. "Preparing to open the door."

Kazuto held up a hand to forestall him. "Wait – recon first. Do you have any sort of scanning software installed that could help you map out the room?"

Clembot nodded. "An astute suggestion. In order to do so without alerting the occupants, however, we must open the door without using the hydraulic assist mechanism."

 _"Don't worry, I got this."_ Korrina's Lucario said, cracking its knuckles and striding forward. _"Just wedge my wrist spikes in there to give me a handhold, and…"_

"That's wide enough." Clembot interrupted in a low voice, placing an eye to the gap and activating his scanning software. "No doubt about it – that's where the machine is located. Not only is there a high concentration of the energy contained within the red Zygarde, but infrared imaging reveals three occupants. I assume the one at the control panel is the leader, while the two with the radio earpieces facing the door are simply lackeys."

"Radio earpieces, huh?" Clemont mused. "I think we can work with that. Clembot, see if you can generate feedback on their communication frequency as soon as we open the door. That should be enough of a distraction for Luxray to paralyze them with Electric Terrain – and if we're lucky, we might get the guy in charge too."

Kazuto hummed in agreement. "Mmhmm. But we should have a backup plan just in case we don't. There's four of us here, so if we split into two groups we might be able to fool him into thinking there's only two of us – especially if the decoys grab as much attention as possible. The stealth team can sneak around the opposite side of the machine when he comes to look."

Korrina pumped her fist energetically. "Grabbing attention? No problem. Besides, I'd never be able to figure out that computer stuff."

"And I'll come with you." Clemont said. "After all, he might get suspicious if I _wasn't_ part of the group trying to take back my Gym."

He received another nod from Kazuto in return. "Let's do this. Lucario, prepare to open the door on my mark."

 _"Ready and waiting."_ Lucario barked softly, Kazuto's tassel-scarf enabling him to understand the canine's words.

The swordsman raised his arm, three fingers extended. "3… 2… 1…"

His last finger dropped, followed by his arm. "NOW!"

* * *

 _"Take THIS!"_ Braixen yelled, sending out a burst of flame and fashioning it into the shape of a small dragon. The fiery wyrm sped off to intercept an oncoming Ice Shard attack, held together with the trademark blue glow of Psychic. Small bursts of steam erupted when the outermost layers sublimated, diverting the Shards from their path and consuming the elemental construct piece by piece.

As the last of the Fire-type energy dissipated, Braixen released her Psychic hold and grinned in satisfaction. It might have taken more concentration than a standard Flamethrower, but compared to complete vaporization of the oncoming attack the technique she had used was much more efficient. _I'll have to thank Greninja for giving me the idea later._ she thought, taking a glance back at her Trainer. _"You sure you're ready for this?"_

"As ready as I'll ever be." Serena replied, opening up her eyes and standing up from the padded seat. "Oh, it feels like we have company coming."

A Flash Cannon attack lanced out from behind them, disrupting the Icy Wind that the enemy on the platform was trying to use to blow their vehicle off course, and Mairin gasped in delight as a silvery-white Mega Metagross soared into view. "Look, it's Steven!"

The female news anchor, who Serena recognized to be Jessie from Team Rocket now that she actually took the time to _observe_ , immediately let out a squee. "You mean Steven, the _Hoenn Champion_ Steven? Me… er, Miguel – make sure you get this on tape!"

"Oh, I ain't missin' a second ah this." Meowth reassured her, pushing back his curly wig slightly so he could keep the camera focused. "Just leave it ta me, and I'll get da shot!"

Down on the wharf, an explosion blossomed as Metagross's Meteor Mash ignited several fuel canisters stored in the warehouse it had just hit. _He's strong,_ Serena thought, exchanging a glance with Braixen. _But then again, he would kind of_ _ **have**_ _to be thanks to the fact that he's a Regional Champion. And it looks like she knows it too._

True to Serena's prediction, Mable had shrewdly decided to avoid a head-on battle where she had a massive disadvantage. While her Weavile was immune to Psychic-type moves (barring the use of Miracle Eye), the power gap was simply too large to overcome. As such, she decided to stall until backup could arrive. "I see you finally realized what was going on. Sure took you long enough…"

Steven, unconcerned, just grinned in response. "Well, considering he fooled almost everybody who wasn't already on his side, I'm sure I can be forgiven for that. By the way, letting the Megalith go on display at the League conference to deflect suspicion was a nice touch. After the incident on registration day, we basically gave it straight into your hands and nobody was the wiser."

Mable laughed haughtily. "And we greatly appreciated it. It was originally supposed to be a field test for our mind control technology, but that Honedge Officer Jenny mentioned let us get away with the Stone a couple of days early. And now that we have it and Zygarde under our control, Lysandre's plan to remake the world cannot be stopped!" A group of Flare Grunts emerged behind her, and her smirk grew wider. "Honestly, your best bet would be to join us – if you do, you'll be spared from the destruction."

The corners of Steven's eyes crinkled in amusement. "That's cute. You think you're actually a threat to me. Evening, Professor. Mairin."

Professor Sycamore returned his nod. "Nice to see you too, Steven. I assume you have everything under control out here?"

Serena sent a situational update to Metagross, who passed it along to Steven. "Yep." the Champion answered. "You guys go ahead and save Chespie; I'll meet you all inside once I've finished cleaning up the mess."

"Right." With one last fangirl-squee from Jessie, the infiltration team entered the darkened hallways of Team Flare's base – Chespie's fate hanging in the balance.

* * *

"C'mon, Chespie's over this way!" Mairin urged, leading them around a corner after glancing at the dimly-lit map on the wall. "Just a bit further!"

All of a sudden, she felt herself shoved to the side of the passageway as a Light Screen popped up in front of her. Thanks to its hastily constructed nature, it shattered upon softening the oncoming Sludge Bomb – but it had served its purpose: deflecting the brunt of the shockwave away from the less durable member(s) of their group. Of course, that meant Team Rocket was (as usual) left covered in soot, their disguises on the verge of uselessness.

A voice rang out of the darkness, taunting those who had been hit by the attack. "Sorry, but all interviews need to be scheduled in advance. Didn't Malva tell you that?"

Jessie's eye twinkled dangerously, and she decided to throw Celosia's words back at her. "Sorry, but we're not here for an interview." Team Rocket ditched their disguises in a flurry of flying fabric, stepping forward aggressively. "Didn't we tell you that?"

Even though she knew it was inappropriate for the situation, Serena couldn't resist the urge to make a snarky comment. "Gasp, it's Team Rocket." she deadpanned, garnering an eyebrow twitch from both sides. "I just hope they're on our side this time."

"Now you listen here, twerpette!" Jessie snapped. "We're not on anybody's side but our own. We're just helping because Team Rocket needs a world _to_ take over! 'To protect the world from devastation,' remember?"

James nodded. "So you twerps go on and rescue Chespie so that _we_ can be the ones to steal him later!"

Serena shook her head incredulously as the remaining three rescuers passed by Team Rocket. "Is stealing Pokémon, like, an addiction or something for you? You guys should seriously get some professional help about that." _Hmm, I wonder how Ash is doing right now…_

* * *

As soon as Gyarados and Pyroar emerged from Lysandre's Pokéballs, Ash ran back over all the information he could remember about each of them. Attacking Pyroar with Talonflame or Charizard probably wouldn't be the best idea due to their shared Fire typing, but sending them up against the Water-type Gyarados wouldn't be an optimal matchup either. Of course Gyarados, being part Flying-type as well, suffered from a double weakness to Electric attacks, which meant…

"Thunder on Gyarados!" he ordered, reaching behind his back and making a throwing motion. "Boomburst and Dragon Pulse for openings, then immobilize by grappling."

All told, his planning and instructions took about four seconds, during which Lysandre decided to start off with a double Incinerate. If Ash had taken the time to name his Pokémon while speaking, Lysandre's attack would have hit his team hard – but thanks to the way he had given the instructions, each member knew exactly what he was supposed to do without having to be singled out. Gyarados' stream of flame rapidly dispersed around a shockwave of compressed air, while Pyroar's was pierced by a rainbow dragon of energy.

Greninja's Water Shuriken immediately whipped through the dragon's fading corona, gathering enough of the dissipating Fire-resistant energy on its surface that it was able to pass through the remnants of the fire mostly unscathed. Ash, meanwhile, had thrown a slightly unstable Aura Sphere saturated with Water through the 'tunnel' left behind by Noivern's Boomburst, leaving a highly conductive path of moisturized air between Pikachu and Gyarados. Pikachu took full advantage of this, landing a Thunder so powerful it made Gyarados twitch involuntarily despite being prepared for the pain.

Pyroar was in a similar situation, the Water Shuriken having hit hard enough to knock it backwards onto its haunches. Instinctively, it reared up to spring forward onto its prey – and then Hawlucha sprang in with a High Jump Kick. Caught mid-spring, it had no leverage to cancel out its opponent's momentum, which turned a forwards leap into a poorly executed standing backflip. So poorly executed, in fact, that it got no further than its back before impacting the steel plating of Prism Tower. Immediately afterwards, another Water Shuriken hit its exposed underbelly, taking it out of the fight.

Despite having seen him battle in the Kalos League, a part of Lysandre was still impressed at how quickly Ash's blitzkrieg strategy had taken down his Pyroar now that he was no longer restricting himself to competitive battling rules. The other part was focused on his still-active Gyarados, priming his wrist gauntlet with a pulse of Mega Evolution energy to kickstart Gyarados' transformation. Half a second before he fired, though, Ash's Charizard swooped in and scooped up Gyarados, using his claws and tail to restrain the sea serpent while he gained the necessary speed for a Seismic Toss.

Lysandre refused to let the setback faze him, cybernetic enhancements calculating the speed at which Charizard would most likely release Gyarados (and therefore where to aim to ensure it Mega-Evolved before hitting the ground, thus minimizing damage). Lining up the crosshairs on his gauntlet with Gyarados' head, he adjusted his aim downwards and began to activate the Mega Evolution pulse.

However, he forgot that there was still another Trainer not coordinating a six-way assault – and that lapse cost him. With a flash of red light and a _clang_ of steel, Alain's Metagross materialized in an open space near the wall, mechanical eyes taking in the scene instantly. "Gravity, now!" Alain ordered, now glad that he had indulged Olympia's whims by accepting the TM after his victory at Anistar.

 _Of course, Sir._ Metagross responded, eyes flashing. _Localized gravity now at 150%._

As soon as he heard Alain's instruction, Ash's hands whipped out and recalled Noivern and Talonflame before the increased gravity brought them crashing down. Gyarados, however, was not so lucky, and it found itself accelerating far faster than Charizard's throw had led it to expect. As a result, Lysandre's attempts to keep his gauntlet steady led to _both_ pseudo-dragons being caught in the pulse rather than just one.

For about half a second, the energy swirled around Charizard's feet and Gyarados' tail (which had been the portions within the beam's area of effect) as if unsure of what to do. Eventually, though, it 'settled' on _partially_ transforming each into their more durable forms – just long enough to dull the force of impact, but not long enough to continue fighting in that form. Charizard, having been able to at least somewhat slow his fall, took less damage; however, he had still not fully recovered from his battle against Alain's Charizard while Gyarados had been completely fresh.

To add to that difficulty, Lysandre's Aura suddenly shifted in color from a deep purple to a more reddish cast as he made a complex series of gestures with his gauntleted hand. This caused the three camera-like devices fluttering around his head to turn and face the grounded Gyarados, lighting up with the twisted red form of Mega Evolution energy that saturated the vines down in the city and channeling it straight into the massive serpent. With a flash of color that seemed _off_ somehow, Lysandre's Gyarados transformed into its bulkier Mega Forme.

Immediately, its eyes lit up red – to the point where its pupils were no longer visible – and it let out a berserk howl. Pikachu sighed heavily, his next words summing up the situation quite succinctly. _"Well, poop."_

* * *

If anybody had asked Xerosic what he thought of his current situation, he would have agreed with Pikachu – albeit for different reasons. First, no sooner had he confirmed that Z-1's brainwaves now matched those of its counterpart than his communicator erupted in a squeal of feedback loud enough that he could hear it from several feet away. Then one of his unshielded electronic devices on the floor shorted out, followed by a set of dual thumps akin to a pair of paralyzed bodies falling to the floor. It didn't take long for him to put the pieces together, and he made his way carefully around his Machine to confront the intruders, thankful that his rubber boots had insulated him from the temporarily electrified floor.

Unfortunately, this meant that he was now facing the invaders two-on-one. And while he would not normally have considered that a problem, there was the small fact that both his opponents were Gym Leaders (one of whose signature Pokémon was known for Mega-Evolving).

But the biggest issue – the one he found unforgivable – was that the young boy who ran the Lumiose Gym had profaned the name of Science! He seemed to have gotten the idea in his head that Science was to be used 'for the betterment of all, to help people _and_ Pokémon,' not as an end in and of itself, and he stubbornly refused any of Xerosic's attempts to enlighten him with its true Purpose. Not only that, but he and his companion seemed to believe that Mega Evolution was not a purely Scientific phenomenon, spouting useless drivel that he had already disproven about how 'the real strength of Mega Evolution lies in the bond between Trainer and Pokémon.' No, its real strength came from optimizing the flow of Infinity Energy (name patent pending) to control the release of power in a Pokémon – a process which only Science could properly realize.

Which was why it irked him so much that he appeared to be _losing_ the battle against these heretics, who appeared to be compensating for their inferiority with trickery. Every time his Crobat attempted to strike the brat's Chespin with a Poison- or Flying-type attack, the girl's Mega Lucario was there to intercept it for (at best) neutral damage. And when he tried using his Malamar's ability to affect other Pokémon's brainwaves by trapping them in elaborate illusions (which he had used as a basis for the Machine's technology) on the Mega Lucario, all it did was wrinkle its nose slightly before quickly crossing and uncrossing its forepaws with a sharp bark.

Not that it would have mattered anyway, what with Luxray's presence. While not quite as durable as Mega Lucario, he was still agile enough to alternate between battering Crobat with Electric-type attacks, tanking the occasional hit for Chespin, and creating openings for Chespin's Pin Missiles to hit Malamar. As such, the battle (which would have taken around five minutes without Korrina) was over in less than one.

" _Hmph._ " Xerosic grunted in irritation, recalling his fainted Pokémon. "I suppose it's a good thing I never needed to defeat you, then. All I needed to do was stall you long enough for the Machine to finish its work – and now that I have, there is no way the sequence can be aborted. The power of Science shall lead us into Lysandre's new world, where it can shine with all its glory!"

"Yeah, about that…" a voice interrupted from behind him, causing his head to whip around in shock. "They were kind of stalling too, and I'm pretty sure I know this computer language well enough to create a shutdown code once he –" here the boy jerked a thumb towards the Gym Leader's android, who was currently plugged into the machine – "finishes unlocking root access for me. Nice speech, though. Very youthful."

Xerosic couldn't quite shake the feeling that the non sequitur was intended to be a jab, but that sentiment was overwhelmed by disbelief. "But… but it was still in development when we stole it from the company, and you're much too young to have been on the testing team! The only way for you to decipher it that quickly would be if you were some kind of genius or something…"

The boy smirked, as if laughing at a joke that only he could understand. "Do you mean a natural-born genius, or a Genius of Hard Work? Besides, this is one of the five most common programming languages where I come from. Anybody with spare time and internet access could learn the basics easily enough if they wanted to."

"I believe the _specific_ Internet you refer to is the one known as the World Wide Web." the robot chimed in. "Which, ironically, has only a single stable connection to our own computer networks, and thus cannot be described here as 'world-wide.' Oh, and by the way, I have successfully infiltrated the system."

Xerosic saw red. Granted, his rose-tinted goggles always gave his vision a reddish cast, but the boy's insolence caused clouds of crimson to obscure his vision. Not even the sound of his communicator beeping from atop the control panel was able to distract him, nor did he let the brief burst of lightheadedness he felt deter him as he charged bodily at the boy who dared to demean his efforts.

Which was unfortunate, because that lightheadedness was simply the herald for a bigger problem. His vision swam, only the red clouds of anger remaining unmoved, and a black cloak fell over the rest of his eyesight for several seconds before he slipped into unconsciousness.

"Nice work, Genos." Kazuto complimented as the Doublade unwrapped his tassel from Xerosic's arm. "Now, let's see if we can get this thing shut down…"

The radio headset on the console crackled to life. _"Xerosic, status report. Is Weapon G responding as predicted?"_

Kazuto picked it up and put it on, eyes scanning over the source code Clembot had pulled up for him to read. "Don't know, don't care. Besides, we're about to shut down your mind control machine, so it doesn't matter anyway."

Lysandre growled from the other end. _"Why does everyone around me have to be so incompetent?"_ A series of beeps followed by static came across the line, and the sound of machinery whirring increased in volume.

"It appears to be quite fortunate that all three of us are here." Clembot noted, eyes blinking intermittently. "Based on my analysis of the system, the machine can only commit to one set of active commands at a time, and changing those instructions requires both root access and an idle machine. Unfortunately, I am not familiar enough with this language to maintain access while simultaneously executing commands."

Clemont pushed up his glasses, gears turning in his mind. "You said it would take all three of us, so… I'm guessing one of us needs to trick the machine into thinking it's not being used while the other one inputs the shutdown code?" At Clembot's nod, he seated himself in the empty chair as Korrina looked over his shoulder. "Right. The shutdown code should probably be simpler, so I'll take that one since you understand the machine's code better. Just tell me what to do, and I'll do it."

Kazuto's eyes skimmed over the source code one last time, and he nodded firmly. "All right – when I give the signal, these are the code lines you need to inject…"

* * *

Omake: The Ideal Curb-Stomp Takedown

* * *

"Pyroar, Gyarados, take them out!" Lysandre ordered, arms sweeping forward to release his Pokémon. As they roared their challenges to the sky, he took a couple of steps backward to survey the field so he could better defeat the fools who dared to block his path to victory.

Except all of a sudden, there was another obstacle in his way. The HUD in his visor whited out for half a second as the vision-enhancing scanners adjusted to the surge of power they had detected, and when the display restored itself he found himself staring at a swirling ring-shaped miasma of otherworldly energy. It was somewhat hard to tell from that angle, but he almost swore he could see glimpses of foreign landscape through the center of the strange construct.

And then Zekrom crashed through the ring, enveloped in the Electric aura of a Bolt Strike, before colliding heavily with Lysandre's Gyarados. _"I say, Hoopa, what the blazes were you thinking?"_ he called irritably back through the floating ring, his roars telepathically translated for plot convenience. _"You don't just interrupt a spar like that, you bounder!"_

Hoopa's head poked out of the other side of the ring, which a portion of Lysandre's brain absently noted appeared to be dripping. _Because Hoopa was told it would save the world_! the djinn said cheerfully, taking off another pair of rings and throwing one out across the city like a Frisbee. _Besides, Dialga told Hoopa that Palkia would have won anyways_.

 _"Oh he would, would he?"_ Zekrom said, turning away from where Gyarados was embedded into the side of the tower and catching sight of Lysandre. _"Oi, who's this cad?"_

"He's a bad guy like Ghetsis who wanted to destroy the world." Ash chimed in as Hoopa's other ring opened up above them, dumping a drenched Pyroar at Lysandre's feet. "So Hoopa was right – you did save the world!"

 _"Ha – in your face, Reshiram!"_ Zekrom gloated, doing a little happy dance that just looked _wrong_ given his bulk. _"That's 257 to 256, which puts me in the lead!"_

On the other side of the portal, Reshiram looked up from an intense game of Sudoku. _"Sorry, did you say something?"_

Zekrom facefaulted, but quickly recovered. _"As expected of my eternal rival! Be assured: during our next bout of high-stakes hopscotch, I shall not hold back, and I do not expect you to do so either!"_

He dove back through the vanishing hoop, leaving Lysandre, Ash, and Alain to stare blankly at each other.

Ash was the first one to break the silence, and his statement summed up the situation quite succinctly. "Well… that happened."


	13. Chapter 13

**.**

"What's your plan then, little miss?" Meyer asked, planting his feet and pulling Bonnie to a stop several dozen feet away from the angry Zygarde. He might not have argued with her insistence that they split off thanks to Serena's earlier statement, but there was no way he was letting his little girl charge into danger without even considering her own safety.

Bonnie looked up at him with a _why-are-you-asking-it's-obvious-duh_ look on her face, and he almost choked at how much like her mother she looked. "I'm gonna go talk to Squishy and help him feel better!" she stated as if it were the simplest concept in the world, causing him to sigh. For all the growth she had displayed during her travels with Ash, Serena, and Clemont, there were moments when it was quite obvious that she was still a child.

"And how do you expect to do that?" he replied, letting a tinge of _I'm-your-dad-so-listen-to-me_ seep into his voice. "After all, both Zygarde look quite angry – and do _you_ ever immediately listen when you're angry and someone tells you to calm down?"

Bonnie shook her head, stealing a worried glance down the street. "This isn't the same thing at all! He's not angry, that red energy stuff is hurting him!"

Meyer blinked, glad that his mask obscured the surprise on his face. "How do you know that?" he asked before he could stop himself. "And how do you know which one is which? They both look the same to me."

"I just _know_ , okay?" Bonnie protested, crossing her arms petulantly. "It might not be quite the same thing as what Ash and Serena can do, but Squishy and I are connected – and I can feel that he's being hurt!"

The skeptical-father part of Meyer wanted to disbelieve her, but the part of him that recognized Ash and Serena's effects on her growth reminded him that he needed to stay open-minded. _Besides, wasn't Mariya's ability to understand the discomfort of Pokémon part of what drew you to her?_ a voice in his mind whispered. _She might be more like her mother than you think…_

 _But we were both adults when we got involved in this sort of stuff, and even then I never liked her putting herself in danger to help me!_ he argued back. _Why should Bonnie have to grow up so quickly – the faster she grows up, the less time I have with her!_

 _I'm pretty sure you remember that she thought the same way about you putting yourself in danger too,_ the voice replied, his brain automatically assigning the pragmatic persona of Blaziken Mask to it. _And think about it: Lysandre is threatening to destroy the world, which means that if you_ _ **don't**_ _let her do this you may have even_ _ **less**_ _time to spend with your family._

 _But even if she can get in close enough for him to hear, what if the other Zygarde tries to attack?_ Meyer protested. _I don't think either of them will let me close enough to rescue her fast enough!_

 _We have a Mega Blaziken._ Blaziken Mask deadpanned. _With the Speed Boost ability. I'm pretty sure he should be fast enough. And if you're still worried, I get the feeling Mariya's Ampharos wouldn't mind coming out of retirement to act as backup one last time. All you need to do is call her in, and she'll come running._

Meyer let out a mental sigh. _No, she'll be of more use helping Nurse Joy at the refugee centers. I don't like it, but I guess I have no choice._

 _Good, because Bonnie already ran off again._

 _Wait, WHAT?_ Meyer looked up to see that Bonnie had, indeed, escaped from his loosened grip and run up behind one of the two Zygarde, body language perfectly mirroring that of her mother years before.

"Squishy – it's me, Bonnie!" she yelled, hand over her heart. "You need to listen to me!"

The Zygarde's motion slowed, as if half-hearing, and Meyer silently directed Blaziken to locate an appropriate staging point from which Bonnie could be rescued if things went south.

Reassured, Bonnie called out again. "I know you're in there, Squishy! C'mon, listen to what I'm saying! Even if you don't understand me, I'm sure you can still hear me!"

The Zygarde she was addressing came to a stop, causing Meyer to involuntarily tense his muscles. Was she actually getting through to the Legendary, or did he simply want to eradicate the disturbance? From the distance he stood, it was hard to accurately gauge the situation, and he began slowly edging closer to his daughter.

"That's it, Squishy." Bonnie coaxed, clasping her hands together and triggering another flashback of Mariya attempting to deal with a particularly stubborn wild Pokémon. "Just keep listening to my voice, and we'll figure something out. I know it hurts, but keep hanging in there and remember what Ash and Serena always say – don't give up 'til it's over!"

By this point, Zygarde had turned completely around and fixed its glowing red eye on the child standing in front of it. Several times, it made as if to lunge forward, but each time something else appeared to hold it back – if only just barely. Meyer flinched each time, his nerves steadily worsening as Bonnie continued speaking.

"Remember back in that cave, when those guys from Team Flare were chasing you? We didn't give up on you then, and I won't give up on you now! We all care about you, Squishy, and we're all working together to help save you – and that's what gives us our strength! Like back when we were helping Volcanion save Magearna, we're all stronger when we help each other!"

Zygarde cocked his head to the side as if curious, though it was still taking a visible act of will for it to avoid lashing out. A wistful smile appeared on Bonnie's face as she remembered the aftermath of that particular incident (at least that's what Meyer assumed based on her following statement). "Even though you were so tired you fell asleep for a while afterwards, we couldn't have done it without you. And you looked so cute sleeping in the sun like that."

Her face lit up. "Do you want me to sing you your special song? The one I wrote for you? It always helped you relax before, so maybe it'll help now!" When no attack came, she cleared her throat and began humming.

 _Squishy, you're so very cute_

 _A silly blob of green_

 _You're always resting in my tote_

 _And dreaming squishy dreams_

After hearing the first few lines, Meyer couldn't help but chuckle despite himself. _She definitely got her rhyming abilities from me and not her mother…_ he thought wryly. _And I don't know whether Mariya would be congratulating her, criticizing her, or both if she heard this._

 _I don't know where you came from_

 _To end up in our lives_

 _But watching you is oh, so fun_

 _When you photosynthesize_

 _I bet Clemont helped her with that last line. She probably wouldn't have known what that word means otherwise._ Meyer mused, before realizing that he was getting distracted. Fortunately, though, so was Zygarde, as the massive serpent's vines no longer seemed to actively need it to restrain them, and the red glow in its eye appeared to be flickering.

 _We tickle and cuddle and rub our cheeks_

 _Cause we're the best of friends_

 _And with Dedenne, you, and me_

 _We're strong until the end_

Her voice began to crack, tears welling up in her eyes as Zygarde leaned closer, and Meyer and Blaziken tensed themselves to jump in and intervene. The following verse was obviously unrehearsed, Meyer noted, since she would have had no reason to sing it before that day.

 _So Squishy, come back to Bonnie please_

 _And help us save the day_

 _We'll help your brother be released_

 _So then we all can play!_

By the end of the song Bonnie was unable to keep her eyes open, turning her head away to wipe her tears. Her other arm remained stretched out toward Zygarde, where it had been positioned at some point during the song – and suddenly, the Legendary ducked its head and bumped her hand gently with its snout. It rumbled in contentment as the red glow faded, causing Bonnie to look up in surprise and gasp. "Squishy, you heard me!" She quickly darted forward and embraced its head with both arms, not caring that they didn't come close to reaching all the way around. "Thank you for coming back to me, Squishy."

Meyer slowly relaxed his muscles, tension draining away as Zygarde nudged his daughter's cheek fondly. A smile crept onto his face, and it was all he could do to keep from bursting into tears of joy and giving her a massive hug. _You're definitely your mother's daughter, alright_.

 _No, thank_ _ **you**_ _, Bonnie._ a stately 'voice' said, garnering a small amount of surprise from all three present. _Thank you for freeing me from that painful illusion those evil humans trapped me in – until your voice showed me the way out, all my attempts to escape merely gave the illusion greater strength. I fear, however, that my brother has been entrapped for far too long to lead him out as you did me; our only hope is to destroy the machine that generates the illusions and keeps them stable._

Meyer stepped forward. "If you're talking about the device in Prism Tower that fired that red beam, my so- er, my sidekick and his builder are working to do that as we speak."

Squishy indicated Bonnie with a flick of his head. _You are referring to her older brother, I assume?_ When Meyer answered yes, the serpent nodded resolutely. _Then we are in good hands. Now, I must rest for a while, but I shall do my best to help again if you need me._

With a flash of green, he released all his depleted Cells and transformed back into his base Forme, landing in Bonnie's arms and trilling contentedly. She giggled happily, nuzzling the top of his head and walking towards the sunniest spot she could find. "I'm glad you're back, Squishy."

* * *

Meanwhile, in Team Flare's headquarters, Mairin was waiting anxiously for Serena to finish examining her partner. "Is Chespie gonna be okay?" she asked, voice quavering. "Can you actually help him?"

Professor Sycamore, who was standing beside her and holding Chespie, looked down at her sympathetically. _I'm not surprised that she doesn't seem too hopeful. After all, last time someone promised to heal Chespie he was lying to her face…_

Serena's eyes flickered open. "That was harder than I thought." she said, wiping imaginary sweat from her brow. "Chespie seems to be saturated with some messed up form of Zygarde's energy, and it felt like it was actively pushing back against all my attempts to get a read on it. I tried pushing it out, but I'm not nearly as good as Ash at that kind of thing – it almost seemed like it was pushing back so hard because it had nowhere else to go."

 _Nowhere else to go, huh?_ Professor Sycamore mused, racking his brain for an answer. _But what else could we use to extract it… wait a minute, I've got it!_ "Serena, do you happen to have some kind of natural crystal or gem on you, by any chance?"

The honey-haired Trainer nodded, pulling a sapphire pendant out from under her shirt. "When I bought Ash that necklace this morning, he insisted on returning the favor and getting me one too. Why?"

"You know how I've been studying Mega Evolution, right?" At Mairin and Serena's nods, he continued. "During my research, I discovered that certain types of crystals could absorb the energy released upon a successful Mega Evolution, though they slowly bled it out again over time (at different rates depending on the type of crystal). At the time, I simply passed it off as a curiosity – though Lysandre seemed much more interested, and now I know why. Anyway, if you think the energy 'has nowhere else to go,' you can try pushing it into the gem to get it out of Chespie."

Mairin looked up hopefully at Serena. "Do you think that'll work?"

Serena unclasped the pendant from her neck, giving the younger girl an encouraging smile. "We'll never know unless we try." _Hey Ash – just so you know, I'm gonna be using that pendant you gave me to try and contain all the negative energy that's making Chespie sick._ she told her boyfriend with a tinge of dry amusement.

 _Not… the best time, honey…_ he responded distractedly. _Trying to hold off a… berserk Mega Gyarados right now…_

 _Sorry_. she said back, smiling at the term of endearment he had inadvertently used. _Just thought you should know._ Drawing strength from the warmth it brought her, she held the crystal up to Chespie's side and began _pushing_ against the miasma of warped energy trapped inside of him. It resisted as before, pushing out on all fronts – but this time, there was one direction that did not push back. And with the crystal's energy-absorbing properties, the bottom of the pseudo-drainage well it formed was a long way down; far enough that Serena had to do little more than initiate the 'downhill' transfer.

 _"Whuh… what happened?"_ Chespie mumbled, slowly blinking his way awake. _"I feel like I was asleep forever…"_

"Chespie, you're awake!" Mairin yelled happily, scooping him out of the Professor's arms and spinning around. "Oh, I missed you _so_ much…"

 _"Huh?"_ Chespie replied, intellect clearly running at full capacity as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Once he did, however, they widened in surprise and he hugged her back. _"Oh my gosh, I was so worried about you! Lysandre's scientists were doing creepy things to this blobby green Pokémon so I decided to help it and then come warn you but then this weird red energy stuff hit me and I think it made me fall asleep because all of a sudden nothing around me felt real but when I tried escaping it just made me feel tired but I knew I had to keep fighting so I could find you and keep you out of trouble and…"_

Serena nodded, her suspicions confirmed. "I _thought_ that green glow was coming from Chespie's Overgrow ability. It definitely felt like Grass-type energy to me. Of course, Ash probably could have figured that out in half the time…"

Her train of thought was cut off when the necklace she held started vibrating and twitching, yanking at the chain in her hand as if trying to go somewhere, and she sighed. "Great, what _now_?"

"An excellent question." Steven replied, walking up to their group with Metagross in tow. "But if my suspicions are correct about what Lysandre's been doing with the Megalith, we might be able to use that like a homing device to help us find it faster."

Serena looked at him oddly. "Okay, how did you know what was going on without us having to explain it for you? You weren't even with us several minutes ago!"

Steven grinned. "My mysterious Champion powers – oooOOOOoooOOoOoOooo…" he said teasingly, wiggling his fingers and garnering a giggle from Mairin. "Actually, Augustine accidentally butt-dialed me while you three were running through the halls. Metagross was doing fine on its own, so I figured I may as well keep tabs on you. By the way, Metagross also says you did an admirable job extracting that energy for a human Psychic."

Behind him, the silver Iron Leg Pokémon waved hello with one of its massive claws.

"Umm… thanks, I guess?" Serena said, unsure whether she should accept the compliment at face value or feel offended at its broader implications. That train of thought was cut short by another tug on the chain, and she quickly discarded it to focus on the matter at hand. Gripping the chain firmly, she turned to face down the hallway in the direction it had attempted to go. "Right, let's do this."

* * *

It has often been said that Fate is a cruel mistress, punishing heroes and villains alike to fit whatever arbitrary balance suits her whimsy. When one hero arises, another falls – and with the demise of the enemy, his vanquisher must accompany him in his destruction.

And so it was with the Machine. In his quest to grant Kazuto and Clemont the access they needed to deactivate it, Clembot had entangled himself so firmly in its software that a timely extraction was impossible, telling neither of this price until the shutdown command had been given. When he did, though, Clemont did not take the news well.

"No – I won't let that happen!" the inventor yelled, running over to where Clembot was jacked in and trying to physically pull the robot loose. "There's gotta be another way!"

Unfortunately, his muscles were no match for the combined strength of steel, magnets, and hydraulic servomotors. "I am afraid there is not." Clembot replied, shaking his head. "Why else do you think I waited until now to tell you? This was the most efficient way to ensure the Machine's deactivation. Besides, you can restore me, can you not? The same cannot be said of you or him, so I was the most expendable."

 _"Expendable?"_ Clemont protested, voice cracking as tears began to well up in his eyes. "How can you call yourself _expendable_ after all the work I put into you? All the time you spent as the Lumiose Gym Leader? Everything you do to help keep our home running smoothly? You're not just a machine that can get broken and rebuilt, you're…"

His voice trailed off into a whisper. "You're family, and I don't want to lose you like we lost Mom."

"I fail to see how this is similar to childbirth complications–" Clembot began, before Clemont interrupted again.

"Don't give me that 'emotionless robot' nonsense, you idiot! Try putting yourself in my shoes – I'm having enough trouble trying to deal with this without you trying to joke around! And even if I did rebuild you, your memories and experiences are what make you who you are, and I can't replicate those…"

Kazuto almost swore he could hear a laugh hidden in Clembot's reply. "Well, if _that's_ what you're worried about, I see no problem. Just look in the computer for a file labeled 'Project Pensieve' once all this is over. System wipe in three… two… one."

The machine gently whirred to a stop, the red glow in its massive canister fading and its attached lights blinking out one by one. Clembot's eyes dimmed, and Clemont drew a rattling breath as he tried to rein in his tears. He was only partially successful, though, slumping onto Korrina's offered shoulder with a quiet sob.

The energetic Gym Leader racked her brain for something she could say to encourage her boyfriend, but none of the words she could think of seemed right. In the end, she just wrapped her arms around him tightly, rubbing soothing circles on his back the way her grandpa always used to whenever she had a nightmare and letting herself cry with him.

Meanwhile, Kazuto's mind was racing. _Wait a minute – he said "Project Pensieve," and there's only one place I ever remember hearing that word before. Add on the fact that it was only mentioned after Clemont brought up loss of memories, and it can only mean one thing…_

"Hey, Clemont." he said softly, placing a hand on the Gym Leader's shoulder after his crying had slowed. "Don't worry, you'll definitely get him back. Remember what the last thing he said was?"

Clemont looked up, eyes red, and sniffled. "Since I don't think you're talking about the countdown, I'm guessing you mean the file he told me about?"

Kazuto nodded. "The name comes from a book and movie series in my home dimension, and it refers to a device used for watching and storing memories."

A light of understanding dawned in Clemont's eyes, and he breathed in sharply. "So you're saying he backed up his memories somewhere in my lab computers, and we can restore him that way?"

He received another nod in response. "Either that or he scattered the backups around various computers in case one got wiped and that file tells you how to find them. Don't worry if that idea doesn't make complete sense to you – it's just another movie reference that the whole 'backing up his personality' thing reminded me of."

"That's great, Clemont!" Korrina chimed in, supportive hug morphing into a happy glomp that came close to knocking him over. The inventor, still not quite used to displays like that from anyone but his dad, chuckled nervously but attempted to suppress his knee-jerk 'pull away, clam up, and start tinkering' reaction for Korrina's sake. Thankfully, she recognized his discomfort quickly and released all but his hand, pulling him to his feet. "Now let's go help Ash and the others finish saving the world so we can bring him back."

Clemont smiled, pulling on his backpack with his free hand and using the Aipom arm to grab a tissue and wipe his nose. "Right. He wouldn't want me sitting around moping, so that's exactly what I'm _not_ gonna do. Together?"

He extended his and Korrina's clasped hands toward Kazuto, who placed his on top. Lucario and Genos added a paw and a tassel respectively, and Chespin capped off the stack with his Vine Whip. _"Together."_

* * *

Omake: Very Intentional Similarities In Our Narrative

* * *

As it turned out, one of the remote networks that Clembot had used as a backup happened to be the publicly-accessible portion of the Lysandre Labs computer system. Now, normally this would be rather unremarkable – but that was not the case, simply because the grunt tasked with watching the Megalith Analysis systems was bored. In order to kill time, he decided to explore all the different programs he had access to, inadvertently activating Clembot's backup just as Lysandre remotely triggered the Megalith's transformation program.

And of course, since the lab had been receiving real-time updates from Xerosic's team, that meant that Clembot now had root-level access to the system controlling the Megalith (overriding Lysandre, who had only set himself up with administrator access). In the process, however, his programming fused irreversibly with the mechanism implanted in the crystal itself.

When the gem on Serena's necklace finally pulled itself free from its setting and implanted itself in a crevice adjacent to the control mechanism, the Infinity Energy contained within it attempted to distort his perception and achieve Lysandre's desired outcome. But since he was an artificial intelligence and not an organic being, the process somewhat backfired – instead of making his mind susceptible to the desires of Lysandre, it warped the structure of the crystal itself to respond to Clembot's desires.

As a result, the massive crystal (whose simultaneous imperviousness and semi-intangibility still defied Xerosic's attempts to analyze it) shrunk itself down into the humanoid shape that Clembot was most comfortable with, its translucent red surface dimming to an opaque color more reminiscent of painted metal. The former AI opened his newly-formed 'eyes,' scanning over the room and catching a glimpse of himself in a nearby reflective surface.

All four Trainers present were then extremely surprised when he started banging his head on the nearest console in exasperation. "Darn it, not me too! Does this happen to _every_ AI who's a superhero's sidekick?" The others' presence then registered and he turned to face them, the gem in his forehead catching the overhead light and glinting yellow.  "Oh, hello. Did Ash win his battle? The clock on the wall behind you indicates that it has been nearly 18 hours since this backup was created. Also, I apologize that you had to see me like this. I believe _someone_ ," (here he glared at a person none of them could see) "simply does not know when to let minor similarities remain minor."

Professor Sycamore's eyebrow arched quizzically. "Okaaaaaay…" he said, sincerely weirded out by the series of events he had just witnessed. "Well, at least now Lysandre's plans for the Megalith have been stopped, I guess…"

Clembot nodded. "Yes, they have. And a good thing, too – we are quickly approaching the self-imposed space restrictions for this omake in the author's text editor."

The professor blinked. "Wait, the who to the what now?" Unfortunately, due to the aforementioned space restrictions, he was never to receive an answer.

 **A/N: If the formatting is messed up, I apologize. I won't have access to a computer for the next two weeks, so I'm using this chapter to test how well posting a desktop-uploaded update via the app keeps formatting consistent. If it works, I might be able to keep updating, but if not I'll have to go on a two-week hiatus.  
(Also, bonus points to anyone who catches the subtle pop-music reference in the Chespie scene. Personally, I'm not sure whether to be proud of working it into the narrative the way I did or ashamed of even making it in the first place.)**


	14. Chapter 14

**.**

 **A/N: Sorry for the change in update schedule. Even though the "publish pre-uploaded chapter from the app" strategy worked when I tried it 3 weeks ago, I haven't even had WiFi available on Tuesdays for the past two. To make up for that, this update and the next will both contain two chapters (until I'm back on schedule). Enjoy!**

 _"Don't know, don't care."_ a teenaged male voice said from the other end of the line, causing Lysandre's eyes to narrow suspiciously. That didn't sound like Xerosic at all – and the interloper's next words provided further evidence. _"Besides, we're about to shut down your mind control machine, so it doesn't matter anyway."_

A frustrated growl escaped the millionaire's lips when he realized that his top scientist must have been taken out by a pair of children. _I expected more from you, Xerosic…_ he thought angrily, voicing his irritation aloud. "Why does everyone around me have to be so incompetent?"

As he closed down the comm link and started preparing to activate the fallback weapon stored at Lysandre Labs, a traitorous thought wormed its way into his head. _What if their losses weren't due to incompetence, but because their opponents were simply stronger? After all, Gyarados is only surviving because you pumped it full of Infinity Energy…_

He swiftly quashed that thought, focusing on running through the remote activation sequence. _No, this is simply a minor setback. Not even a hired hacker with a Metagross was able to crack Xerosic's code - and even if they get past my Mega Gyarados, there is no way they can defeat the Megalith once it absorbs that Chespin and reaches its full strength. I may be required to perform a tactical retreat to ensure proper operation, but I will not let my plan to recreate the world be stopped._

Then an error message appeared in his HUD, and almost everything fell to pieces. The flow of energy from the Machine to his gauntlet cut off, its emergency systems automatically halting Gyarados' power-up to ensure that it could complete the Megalith's activation, and the Atrocious Pokémon quickly fell to a barrage of simultaneous attacks. Almost immediately after, the city lit up with the characteristic green glow of a de-powering Zygarde.

Malva also showed up, giving him a brief spot of hope – but instead of helping him against Ash and Alain, she appeared to have sided _with_ them. "Give it up, Lysandre." she called, her Mega Houndoom growling menacingly beside her. "It's over."

Lysandre grunted angrily, returning his Gyarados. "If there's one thing I hate more than incompetent help, it's disloyalty in my workers. Your betrayal will not be taken lightly."

"Then so be it." the Elite Four member replied, taking a step forward. "Besides, it's what you deserve for lying to us all."

Lysandre stepped backward, attempting to inconspicuously make his way to the edge under the guise of keeping his distance. But in the meantime, he needed to stall for time. "Since when did I lie to you? I may have omitted several details for the sake of efficiency, but none of what I told you was untrue."

"WRONG!" she said vehemently, confusing him slightly. Why would he have ever felt the need to deliberately mislead her if he knew she agreed with his reasoning?

Her next words were like a slap in the face. "What I've seen happening here disproves your entire argument. You claim that the world needs to be recreated because people are inherently selfish – but if that were the truth, then why would the citizens of Lumiose and the League competitors risk their own lives to escort complete strangers to safety?"

"Because they are fools." Lysandre replied, crossing his arms. "They believe that by performing a single act of penance, they can escape the judgment their selfishness deserves. There might be a few who are truly unselfish, but the few cannot atone for the deeds of the many."

"Or maybe _you're_ the one who's really the most selfish." Ash interrupted, his words cutting through the conversation like a knife. "You say that you're trying to get rid of other people's selfishness, but your real goal is to create a world that operates the way _you_ think it should, regardless of other people's opinions – and if your plan worked, _you_ would be the one in charge. On top of that, this whole plan revolved around putting Zygarde under _your_ control because you believed that only _you_ could be trusted with that power."

"How _dare_ you?" Lysandre hissed angrily. "You, a child, are trying to tell _me_ that I'm wrong – that I'm guilty of the same thing I have been trying to stop?"

Ash shrugged. "As they say, 'if the shoe fits…' Besides, you just proved my point by claiming that you're right just because you're older than I am." His brow then furrowed thoughtfully. "That makes me wonder… was the real reason that you gave up on trying to help people because they _actually_ kept demanding more and more stuff, or because _you_ stopped getting recognition for it?"

"Why should that matter?" Lysandre snapped. "They stopped acknowledging my efforts out of their own innate selfishness, so I knew continuing to help would be a fruitless endeavor."

Ash replied with a shake of his head. "But that's just it. Real unselfishness is willing to help others regardless of whether or not you get anything in return – because it's the right thing to do. Mom always tried to teach me that while I was growing up, but it wasn't until after I helped save the world for the seventh or eighth time that I really understood for myself what she meant."

Behind him, Alain blinked Noctowlishly. "Seventh or eighth? How many times has something like this happened?"

"At least sixteen – I've kind of lost track by now." Ash said, dismissing the question with a wave. "But after seeing for myself how Sir Aaron was willing to give up his reputation for the sake of stopping a war, even if he did end up becoming a hero after his death, Mom's lesson finally stuck with me for good. Appreciation is still nice and all, but I would still help people even if nobody else cared."

He then inexplicably stiffened in shock right as an indicator on Lysandre's HUD lit up green, and the Flare boss felt a surge of triumph. _With the Megalith Zygarde now operational, there's nothing they can do to stop me. And that boy just gave me the perfect getaway distraction…_ While everyone else was occupied staring at Ash, Lysandre stepped off the edge of the platform, Metagross' still-active Gravity boosting his acceleration and slowing down any attempts at pursuit.

 _Just try and come after me._ he thought challengingly, activating his jetpack and speeding off towards the rocky plains near Anistar. _Then we'll see who is_ _ **truly**_ _more powerful. It'll be me, of course, but watching you get crushed will be quite satisfying._

* * *

 _Ash, I lost the necklace!_ Serena thought, panicked. _That big rock that was in the buffet area on registration day just yanked it out of my hand and sucked it in, and now it's glowing the same color as that Zygarde was!_

She could feel the surprise in his reply. _Wait, he had another machine there? Well, that explains why he didn't just give up when we beat his Gyarados – he was stalling for time! Aaaand he just escaped on a jetpack while I was distracted. Why don't_ _ **I**_ _have a jetpack?_

 _Because you don't_ _ **need**_ _one, silly._ she retorted fondly. _Remember, we – yipes!_ Serena jumped backwards, evading a root that burst up through the floor near the base of the Megalith. Immediately afterwards, an alarm started blaring and a pre-recorded evacuation message played over the PA system.

 _What is it? What's going on?_ Ash asked her, worry seeping into his thought-voice.

 _A bunch of those root things just started growing out of it, and it's destroying the building!_ she thought back as she projected a Psycho Cut blade to defend herself with.

There were a few seconds of silence before his next reply – and when it came, it held no trace of humor. _Alain said to tell you to get Mairin out of there. I know you and the Professor can take care of yourselves, but she doesn't have the experience we do._

Serena almost facepalmed when she realized that she had been about to try and battle her way back to the helicopter when there was a much more efficient option. _Right. Talk to you again once we're outside._ "Everyone, stand together!" she called over the sound of the alarm.

"Okay, but why?" Steven called back, weaving his way around debris to where Mairin stood. "Shouldn't we be trying to get to the exit?"

"That's what we're doing!" she replied, fixing an image of the helicopter's landing pad in her mind's eye. Dissipating the energy of the Psycho Cut, she pulled it back in and channeled it into a Teleport – and not a moment too soon, as a root crashed through the space her head had been not half a second before.

As they appeared outside, Steven looked at her appraisingly. "That was quite impressive – I wasn't aware that teleportation was something human Psychics were capable of. Based on what I've heard, the necessary balance of power and control is quite hard to obtain, and most humans can only achieve one or the other."

Serena blinked, trying to tune out the headache that transporting four people (even over such a relatively short distance) had given her. "Really?"

"Mmhmm." Steven nodded, watching the Flare Base collapse as the Megalith's wood-and-stone shell grew larger and took shape. "When I first became the Hoenn Champion, I revisited all the Gyms to get an in-depth understanding of how they operated, and one of the students at Tate and Liza's Gym was asking why they couldn't learn to teleport – apparently, the possibility of self-harm if power and control are improperly balanced makes it too risky for humans to learn, since we're not as durable as Pokémon."

A wry grin made its way onto Serena's face. "Huh. I guess I've been hanging around Ash for so long that I forgot how out of the ordinary our adventures are compared to normal people."

Steven half-turned to face her curiously. "You wouldn't happen to be talking about Ash Ketchum, would you? I met him once several years ago, and Lance – the Kanto/Johto Champion – mentioned his name when telling me about the kind of situations I would have to be ready to face as Hoenn's Champion. Said he helped stop Groudon and Kyogre's first rampage back when Wallace was Champion or something like that."

Serena giggled. "Yep, that sounds like Ash alright. Apparently, he's some kind of legendary 'Chosen One,' and so he can't help but get mixed up in that sort of stuff." As she spoke, she clenched her fist resolutely. "Which is why I'm glad that I'm strong enough to fight alongside him – it means he won't have to do it alone."

Steven smiled down at her, understanding clear on his face. "You care for him quite a lot, don't you?"

Serena replied with a Look. "Of _course_ I do – I wouldn't have agreed to be his girlfriend if I didn't!"

"Right, I get it, obvious question." Steven placated, holding his hands up defensively. "You can't fault a guy for being curious, can you?"

"Well, technically I _could_ …"

Professor Sycamore interrupted by clearing his throat. "I suppose now would be a good time to alert you that the building is no longer collapsing and a giant crystal Zygarde is now smashing its way through the forest at the top of the cliff."

Steven nodded, suddenly all business again. "Do we have anything we can use to follow it? If nothing else I can ride on Metagross again, but I feel like it would be best if we all stayed together to track it since we don't have communicators."

Mairin's face scrunched up in thought. "Doesn't Team Flare have that big airship thing? It's big enough that I don't think they could have kept it inside the building…"

The professor tapped his chin, elbow resting in his other hand. "The question is, where _did_ they keep it? If we don't know where it is, it's useless to us."

"Actually, maybe not." Serena said as the germ of an idea took root in her mind. "If any of you have been in it before, I might be able to teleport us directly in with Metagross's help. I'll probably be out of it for a while afterwards, but then you guys should be able to track that thing using the computers on board."

Steven frowned. "Are you sure about this? It sounds like it could backfire horribly if you made a mistake – especially since you've never been there before."

Serena shook her head. "It won't. Teleporting people is easier if I move myself along with them, and I've managed to teleport someone else to somewhere they'd been but I hadn't before." _Granted, it did require administrator approval before it worked, but it still worked._

Steven stared at her incredulously for a few seconds before sighing. "If everybody else who met him hadn't described Ash as some kind of weirdness magnet, I probably would have thought you were crazy for saying that. Come on, let's get this over with."

His arm swept up, releasing a Pokéball. "Metagross, I require your assistance!"

* * *

Down in the ruins of Xerosic's temporary Prism Tower laboratory, the Flare scientist's discarded radio headset came to life in a burst of static. _"Hello? Clemont, Korrina – does anybody read me?"_

Ash froze next to the door as Clemont walked past, his enhanced hearing picking up the muted voice through the sound of departing footsteps. "Huh, that sounded like Professor Sycamore…"

Clemont paused to look back at him. "What are you talking about?"

"I thought I heard Professor Sycamore trying to say something through a walkie-talkie in there – did you accidentally leave one over there or something?"

The Gym Leader shook his head. "No, I was planning on handing them out when we met up with you, but then you never ran into us and I kind of forgot. The only way you could have heard him was if… you know, that's probably what happened."

He jogged over to the console and picked up the headset sitting on top. "Is that you, Professor?"

The voice on the other end sounded relieved. _"Thank goodness – I didn't know whether or not that would work."_

Clemont walked quickly back over to the door to catch up with the rest of the group, (somewhat pointlessly) nodding. "You actually almost missed us. Malva was about to fly us to the Team Flare headquarters to meet up with you, and Ash was worried because Serena wasn't responding to him." _It *is* the Professor,_ he mouthed to Ash, pointing at the earpiece.

 _"Well, that's quite understandable."_ Sycamore replied as they rounded the corner. _"She temporarily wore herself out teleporting four people, a Chespin, and a Metagross to somewhere she'd never been before – I'd be more surprised if she_ _ **wasn't**_ _asleep right now."_

"Wait, so does that mean you're _not_ in Team Flare's headquarters right now?" Clemont asked, drawing the attention of Malva (who had been holding the elevator door open for them).

 _"No, the building was actually destroyed by a giant crystal Zygarde. We're tracking it now in a hijacked Flare airship – which is how we were able to contact you – and it looks like it's headed in the direction of Anistar City."_

"Right, I'll let them know. Call this channel back if you have any updates."

 _"Will do. And make sure you bring Blaziken Mask with you; we'll need all the firepower we can get."_

"Got it." Folding up the microphone so that it no longer hung in front of his face, he turned to face the rest of the group. "That was Professor Sycamore. He says they're tracking a giant fake Zygarde towards Anistar, and that we need to pick up Blaziken Mask on the way there. And Ash, I'm guessing you heard what he said about Serena?"

Ash nodded, looking much more relaxed than he had several minutes before. "Yeah, I heard." An amused look crossed his face as the elevator reached the landing pad at the tower's peak, and he let out a snort. "And really, a giant fake Legendary? Somebody already tried that years ago with Groudon."

Malva's walk slowed slightly as she registered what he had said. "Are you saying you encountered a situation like this before?"

"Kinda…" Ash replied, scratching the back of his neck. "When I was at the Millennium Festival in Hoenn, there was this guy who tried to use Jirachi to create his own Groudon, but then it kinda went berserk and we had to destroy it before it could destroy anything else."

Clemont looked at him curiously. "How did you do that?"

 _"The same way you always fix the problem when a giant machine malfunctions in sci-fi movies."_ Pikachu piped up from Ash's shoulder. _"We reversed the polarity on the machine."_

Kazuto almost coughed as a laugh stuck in his throat (the air finally coming out in an awkward cross between a sputter and a snort), and Korrina gave him an odd look from where she had just sat between him and Clemont. "What's so funny?"

"The thing Pikachu said about how reversing the polarity solves any problem in the movies. It might be an exaggeration, but it's still amusingly accurate."

Korrina blinked innocently. "You mean it _doesn't_ always solve the problem in real life?" At Kazuto's incredulous stare, she broke down into giggles and slapped him on the shoulder. "Just kidding. I may not be as sciencey as Clemont, but I'd have to be stupid to not pick up at least a few things by listening to him." Her cheeks then tinted pink slightly. "Plus, it's kind of adorable when he gets excited talking about his inventions, even if I can only understand every other word…"

Clemont's face turned even redder than hers, and he attempted to hide behind his massive glasses. "I'm _so_ relieved Bonnie isn't here right now…" he said under his breath.

"Aww, am I embarrassing you?" Korrina teased, throwing an arm around his shoulders. "Well, we'll just have to fix that, won't we?" From the peck on the cheek she then gave him, it was clear that she believed the best solution would be to drive him to the point where he _couldn't_ be embarrassed any more. At the moment, however, all it did was make him shrink further into himself.

"Brace yourselves; preparing for takeoff." Malva called back from the cockpit, sparing him from further humiliation. "And does anyone know where to find Blaziken Mask?"

"Probably where that other Zygarde last was." Ash told her, scanning with his Aura to see if he could locate the superhero. "If I know Bonnie, she will have gone to try and befriend it like she did with Squishy, and Blaziken Mask was with her."

Malva nodded and adjusted the helicopter's trajectory accordingly. "You were right." she said a few moments later as a patch of orange-and-cream came into sharp relief against its surroundings. "I have them in my sights."

 _That's funny…_ Ash thought. _Why didn't I detect them first? I've been able to sense things a lot farther away when working with –_

The answer hit him like a Thunderbolt, and he almost felt like asking Pikachu to hit him with a real one. _Right, that whole 'resonance boost' thing. I need to remember that my range is more limited when we're split up. That could be important someday._

* * *

Up in the Hall of Origin, Arceus chuckled. **_Foreshadowing for a sequel, are we?_**

Not exactly – it's more like leaving the option open just in case I need an excuse to nerf their abilities to keep things interesting. Of course, considering what they've still been able to do, it probably wouldn't make _that_ big of an impact…

Arceus snorted. **_So bringing them down from 'broken' to just 'overpowered?'_**

Hey, some is better than nothing! Besides, after a while, the protagonists just steamrolling over everything in their path gets kind of boring. (Well, except for Saitama, but that's because his whole conflict comes from him not _wanting_ to do that. But I digress.)

 ** _Is that why you basically incapacitated them for a while? To 'preserve the drama?'_**

Sort of. I was trying to keep their abilities at least self-consistent and semi-realistic, and it just kind of happened. The whole 'making Lysandre and Xerosic not be complete idiots' thing was a more deliberate attempt at giving them some kind of a challenge… that, and make it more plausible for Team Flare to have actually fooled people.

 ** _Doesn't seem to have been much of a challenge, does it?_**

Hey, _you_ try and adapt a pre-written story arc to include characters and abilities from alternate universes without turning it into a crack-fic and _then_ we'll talk.

 ** _No thanks. You see, I've got this little thing here called a Writer's Block…_**

…That's not what that means, and you _literally_ just pulled that out of thin air. Now if you're not gonna be helpful, shut up and let me continue.

 ** _Fine, fine, I'll help you end the chapter. Cue the omake!_**

Wait, I didn't mean – *sigh*, whatever.

* * *

Omake: More World-Teleportation Prattfalls

* * *

"…Something is wrong." Owen's partner muttered to him as they stared at the _Indominus_ through their scopes. "They're communicating." Sure enough, she seemed to be talking to the raptor squad in a series of barks and growls.

 _That's exactly what I was afraid of,_ Owen thought grimly, upset that Wu had hidden something from him that could be extremely dangerous to the team. "I think I know why they didn't tell us what this thing is made of."

Barry glanced at him in alarm. "Why?"

Before he could say anything else, a giant golden ring appeared out of nowhere and dumped out a kid who looked no older than sixteen or seventeen (maybe even as young as ten if you squinted hard enough). "Ugh… what was that for?" he groaned, pushing himself to his feet in between the raptors and the I-Rex as if unaware of their presence.

Owen was about to hiss out a warning to the kid when a loud voice – more felt than heard – echoed through the forest, even giving the _Indominus_ pause. **_What, am I not allowed to randomly throw my Chosen One into different universes where his abilities could alter the plotline in unpredictable ways?_**

"If nothing else, a little warning would be nice!" the stranger called back, offhandedly stopping the _Indominus'_ lunge with a shimmering blue barrier that he appeared to have summoned out of nowhere. "You're just lucky I wasn't on a date, or else I'd be _really_ mad at you…"

The _Indominus_ roared at him, and he gave her a slap on the nose that whipped her head around like a tetherball. _"NO."_ he said, wagging a finger at her sternly. "Bad girl – you do _not_ eat people." She whined in protest, and he shook his head. "Sorry, answer's still no."

Blue then chirped at him questioningly, and he glanced at her with the corner of his mouth upturned. "And who do you trust more, the alpha who raised you from hatchlings or the outsider trying to muscle in on your family?" A phantasmal knife materialized in his hand, quickly flying off to intercept a beginning swing from one of the I-Rex's claws.

Barry stared incredulously at the scene in front of them, his firearm all but forgotten. "Who _is_ this guy? I mean, I know you and the girls have that whole 'relationship based on respect' thing going on, but _dang_."

Owen couldn't help but agree with his partner's sentiment. "With as natural as that looks for him, it almost feels like I'm an alien from another planet watching this." When Barry looked at him oddly, he raised an eyebrow. "Just me? Huh." Slipping on his headphones, he activated the Walkman on his belt and walked back to the transport, adding in a bit of fancy footwork as the sound of _Hooked On A Feeling_ washed over him. _There we go – now all is right in the world._


	15. Chapter 15

**.**

 **A/N: This is the second of two chapters today.**

As the Megalith they were tracking came closer and closer to Anistar, Professor Sycamore's worry increased in tandem. While it did not appear to be overly concerned with destroying all in its path (as he had expected), the single-mindedness with which it approached the city was a cause for concern. _Why Anistar?_ he wondered, brow creased thoughtfully as he made a minor correction to the airship's flight path to maintain a respectful distance from the vines. _Does this have anything to do with last time they attacked, when they were focused on…_

"The sundial." Steven said grimly, clicking on an icon to pull up a simulation on the screen in front of him, and the Professor automatically reactivated the radio so that the other team could hear. "Based on the research they've done, that negative energy they had stuck inside Chespie interacts with the Infinity Energy from Mega Evolution in one of two ways. If either or both is of sufficiently small quantity, the negative energy (for lack of a better term) 'infects' the rest and converts it to match – but if there's enough of both, the reaction is violently explosive. And with all the Infinity Energy their data says is stored in the Anistar Sundial…"

 _"An earth-shattering kaboom."_ Kazuto finished dryly from the other end.

Steven nodded. "Exactly. We'll try and slow it down as much as we can, and you guys get here as soon as you can. We'll need all the firepower we can get."

Ash's voice came over the line next. _"Got it. It looks like Korrina has a question, though."_

 _"Yeah, I do."_ the Shalour Gym Leader said. _"If it does what you say to Mega Evolution energy, then why didn't it affect my Mega Lucario when that scientist guy tried to mind-control him? He just did something with his Aura and then BAM, it stopped!"_

"Well, there's your answer." Steven replied with a chuckle. "He disrupted it with Aura, and I'm guessing it was a small enough amount that it couldn't self-sustain after being disrupted. Maybe the Aura even 'grounded it,' to use a term that Clemont should understand. I'd explain what I mean by that, but I have to go help Augustine delay this thing."

 _"Right. We'll meet you there."_ The radio cut off with a hiss, and Steven stood up from the computer, dismissing all the open windows.

 _"Autopilot engaged."_ a computerized voice announced as Professor Sycamore walked away from the flight controls. "All right – let's do this."

Braixen burst from her Pokéball in a swirl of red, brandishing her wand determinedly. _"I'm gonna help too! I may not hit as hard as you, but every little bit helps."_

Steven couldn't help but smile at her eagerness. "You're a real credit to your Trainer, you know that?" Pressing the button to open the door, he threw out his signature team member's Pokéball and reached up to clasp his Key Stone clip. "Metagross, I require your assistance!"

Beside him, Professor Sycamore released his Garchomp, Braixen hopping onto Metagross's chassis as he did so. The two Trainers pulled out their Key Stones, tendrils of light already snaking out to meet their partners in midair. "Garchomp/Metagross, **Mega Evolve!** " they chorused, the simultaneous Mega Evolutions nearly outshining the crystal Zygarde's red glow.

 _"Yeah, go get 'em!"_ Chespie cheered from Mairin's arms, pumping his fisted paw. _"Give that thing what for!"_

Metagross and Garchomp swooped down, bludgeoning and swiping at the construct's massive vines in an attempt to catch its attention. As they did so, Braixen created another flame phantasm and sent it curving around toward the fake Zygarde's head, a string of Psychic energy connecting the tip of her wand to her puppet and guiding it along her chosen path.

 _"Hey, over here ya big lug!"_ she yelled, trying but failing to get it to turn its head. Undiscouraged by the lack of response, she simply redoubled her efforts. Her Trainer wouldn't give up, so neither would she! Resolve blazed red-hot within her, and she gave it form by sending a second dragon to accompany the first – but this time, something changed.

* * *

Deep within the heart of the crystal Zygarde, a series of small mechanical devices whirred to life. Originally installed as a redundant security measure, they were intended to respond to Chespie's attempts to fight the illusion he was trapped in by channeling the energy outwards, which would then cause his 'container' to lash out at whatever surrounded it. If something threatened it from outside, their programming would alter the illusion so he would think _he_ was the one being attacked. And all the while, the central node would be channeling his desire to escape to keep the Zygarde moving towards Anistar.

Granted, Chespie was not inside it at the time, but Lysandre and Xerosic had prepared for that eventuality in their quest to ensure that the plan could succeed despite setbacks. While the devices were intended to take and amplify Chespie's responses, they could still carry out those tasks on their own (albeit at a somewhat lower efficiency). And with a floating chunk of metal, a shark built like a jet fighter, and two dragons of flame peppering it from various sides, the threat level finally exceeded the necessary threshold.

With little to no warning, a vine shot out and attempted to impale Garchomp from behind, and only Professor Sycamore's timely shout allowed her to twist out of the way and cut it in half.

The next attack was more underhanded, with _two_ vines coming in a staggered assault – first, Metagross was distracted by the one attacking from the front, and then the second came in from behind to try and ensnare it. The added bonus of this tactic (which was part of a batch Xerosic had compiled from old League footage) was that if the second vine hit, Metagross's counterattack would be diverted, allowing the _first_ to hit as well.

At least, that was the plan. Instead, one of the firewyrms swooped in to intercept, losing its form as it enveloped the root in flames and cut off its connection to the central core. Metagross rumbled its thanks, opting to deflect its own target with a smack of its leg rather than an officially-recognized technique.

 _"You're welcome."_ Braixen panted after summoning a new dragon to replace the one she had lost. _"I only think I have enough in me to make one more of those, though."_ She regretted not having practiced the technique more beforehand, but she also realized that half an hour (about ten minutes of which were spent in cramped hallways) was not enough time to adequately fine-tune a new combination attack – and even if she had tried, it would have only succeeded in exhausting her sooner.

 _"One's better than nothing!"_ Garchomp called over, swooping down to slice through another pair of roots with her massive scythes. _"And thanks for the thermals – they're really helping me maneuver!"_

The crystal Zygarde appeared to disagree with Garchomp's sentiment, sending five roots at once to assault Metagross and Braixen's tag team from all sides. Unfortunately, one of its opponents was of Champion-level caliber, and they simply shattered on a spherical Protect shield.

But despite all their efforts, the three of them were about as effective as trying to plug a leaky dike with cheesecloth: it slows the flood slightly and prevents further erosion, but is ultimately insufficient. In a similar fashion, the behemoth had slowed down as part of its energy was diverted to defense, but keeping up the assault until it reached Anistar would only delay it by about five minutes maximum.

And with as draining as Braixen's flame dragon technique was, there was no way they could have continued attacking at that intensity the whole way there. Eventually, she ran out of Psychic energy and lost control of the flames – and the Megalith, which had been absorbing the bleedoff of Infinity Energy from Garchomp and Metagross to slowly ramp up its attacks without losing speed, now had the opening it needed. By the time Garchomp recognized the danger, a pair of roots had already ensnared Braixen and Metagross, with more snaking in to immobilize Metagross's arms. This almost proved to be her undoing, only a last-second thermal from the evaporation of Braixen's technique allowing her to avoid sharing their fate.

As quickly as the crystal Zygarde had grabbed ahold of Braixen, it discarded her; anything not in its stored database of potential Mega Evolutions automatically classified as 'unthreatening.' Garchomp attempted to catch her, but another set of roots sprouted up between them and forced her to break off the rescue. Metagross reached out with Psychic to soften her fall, but its focus was broken by a root colliding heavily with its underside.

"Braixen, no!" Mairin yelled, running forward with her arm outstretched. Chespie held her back from the edge by anchoring them with Vine Whip, and she could do nothing but watch helplessly as the half-exhausted Fire-type fell swiftly toward the menacing rocks below. "We gotta do someth– wait, what?"

Chespie followed his Trainer's gaze downwards, only to be equally confused when he saw that the space Braixen had occupied was now vacant. Several hundred feet back, a pair of winged shapes was racing to catch up to them, but neither of them was nearly close enough to have rescued Braixen from her fall.

 _"You did a great job so far."_ a voice said from behind him, and he whipped his head around to see a Greninja with an oddly-colored crest and a giant Water Shuriken on its back standing next to the sleeping Serena and holding Braixen's paws. _"Now get some rest – once we rescue the other two, we're probably gonna fall back towards Anistar and regroup."_

Braixen tightened her paws fondly. _"Thanks. And maybe next time_ _ **I**_ _can save_ _ **you**_ _…"_

Greninja chuckled. _"We'll just have to wait and see, won't we?"_ He let go and turned to the open hatch, only to see Chespie staring at him in shock. _"What?"_

 _"H… how did you get up here without any of us seeing you?"_

He smirked under his tongue-scarf before diving back out of the airship. _"Ninja, remember? GERONIMOOOOoooo!"_

His voice faded into the howling wind as he soared out of immediate earshot, leaving Chespie to gape openly. _"Who_ _ **is**_ _this guy?"_ he breathed out in awe, barely registering as two Charizard entered the fray and made short work of the roots trapping Metagross and threatening Garchomp.

 _"That would be my boyfriend."_ Braixen snarked from behind him, pride evident in her words. _"The first ever flying Greninja, and he still chose me…"_ Her voice trailed off softly, a small smile gracing her face as she watched him cover the others' retreat.

"Garchomp, pull back for now!" Professor Sycamore yelled as his Pokémon turned around to begin another assault. "The longer we fight it like this, the stronger it gets!"

Stepping aside to allow Garchomp a way back on board, the Professor raised his hand up to the headset he had put on several seconds before. He wasn't sure why it had come equipped with a cord that could extend all the way from the console to the door, but he knew better than to complain. "You'd better be right about this, Ash – otherwise, we're just throwing away our time."

 _"I know I am."_ Ash replied from the other end. _"Greninja just got an up-close look, and he confirmed it. The good news is, I think I know how we might be able to stop this thing. It'll take everything we've got, but in order for my idea to work we need to leave it alone for a few minutes so it lowers its guard."_

Suddenly, a massive white sphere of energy burst into existence several thousand feet away and shot directly toward the crystal Zygarde, its signature a mishmash of almost half the various elemental Typings held together by Psychic energy. Metagross rumbled and whirred speculatively, causing Steven to nod in response as it translated its question for him. "Yep. That's Gardevoir's signature precision, alright. Hey, Augustine – let the others know that Diantha's here with reinforcements. The other six Gym Leaders, from the looks of it."

A wall of roots erupted in front of the fake Zygarde as Professor Sycamore relayed the information, just barely managing to halt the attack without loss of momentum. _"Well, that makes things a bit easier."_ Ash said. _"Let's go meet up with them, and then I'll explain my idea to everyone at once."_

"Right. See you then." The helicopter and the airship peeled away from the crystal Zygarde, followed by Greninja and the two Charizard. Several seconds later, the forest of roots defending it receded as the machines' Detected Threat Level was reduced – but now that they had been activated, any further assault would be countered much more swiftly.

* * *

Steven crossed his arms, surveying the group assembled in front of him. "Thank you all for being here. I assume you all know what we're up against?"

Diantha nodded. "After we saw the news feed saying that that thing was headed for Anistar, we were able to decipher the meaning of Olympia's vision. We must not allow it to reach the sundial at any cost."

"Even if it means destroying that magnificent rock completely…" Grant added dejectedly. Viola patted him on the shoulder, smiling up at him in a comforting fashion, and he sighed before placing his hand on hers. "No, I won't let it distract me. Admiring rocks is great, but I can't do it if there isn't a world for me to do it _in_."

 _"Oh, get a room you two!"_ Vivillon buzzed from above them, quickly amending her statement after Tyrunt tilted its head quizzically. _"After we save the world, but still."_

"AHEM."

Having gained everyone's attention, Professor Sycamore waved a hand at Ash. "Our newest Conference Champion says he has a plan that should let us stop this thing."

Olympia inclined her head in acknowledgement. "Then by all means, let us hear it."

Ash looked up from where he was sitting, his hand intermittently pulsing blue as he sent a slow stream of energy into an awake-but-drowsy Serena. "Right. I think most of you have already heard how Lysandre and Xerosic intended to have Mairin's Chespin act as the 'core' of that thing over there, right?" At the series of nods from those who knew and surges of anger from those who didn't, he continued. "When Greninja was able to get up close, he was able to see that even though we saved Chespie, there's still something inside acting as a focus. Our guess is that it's the necklace Serena used to extract the negative energy from Chespie."

Wulfric grunted in approval. "I think I see where you're going with this. Take out the necklace, and the whole thing will shut down."

The corner of Ash's mouth quirked up. "Exactly. Unfortunately, Greninja also saw that there were some smaller devices stuck inside that were absorbing the Infinity Energy coming from Steven and Professor Sycamore's Mega-Evolved Pokémon to make itself stronger. That means we can't stall – it'll have to be a short all-or-nothing attack."

"You also said that it got stronger the more Pokémon were closer to it, right?" Kazuto cut in. "Especially Mega-Evolved ones?"

Ash nodded. "Just like those Tree Guardians we faced in ALFheim. I'm guessing you just had an idea?"

Kazuto gave a _hmm_ of acknowledgement. "We do this in stages, like a rocket. The Mega-Evolved Pokémon stay back toward the fringes, where it's harder for the vines to drain their energy, and draw its attention. Compared to that, one or two people managing to get close won't seem like as much of a threat."

"I'll go with you as far as I can." Diantha stated matter-of-factly. "What kind of a Champion would I be if I left a pair of teenagers to do my job? And Gardevoir should be able to control her energy bleed-off so that the roots can't absorb it."

"The same goes for me." Steven said, his tone brooking no argument. "You'll need all the firepower you can get once you're in close."

 _"And Serena and I will stay back here to protect Bonnie and Mairin."_ Braixen announced, paw resting on the base of her wand. _"We'll be more effective here than we would be out there."_

Serena repeated her statement to the impromptu council, garnering nods of approval from everyone else present. Silence fell for a few seconds, and then Korrina broke it with a determined fist-pump. "Right, let's do this!" She extended her fist toward the center of the circle, quickly mirrored by Mairin and Bonnie. Everyone else soon followed suit, their hands meeting in an impressive display of solidarity. "For Kalos – and the world!"

The response shook the nearby forest with its strength. **_"FOR KALOS – AND THE WORLD!"_**

* * *

Concealed by a rock spire on a nearby plateau, Lysandre watched as the Champions, Gym Leaders, and the others they had recruited to their cause threw themselves hopelessly at his _magnum opus_. Once again, his and Xerosic's foresight had proven to be completely necessary – without it, they might have actually stood a chance at destroying Team Flare's creation. As it was, however, the presence of seven Mega-Evolved Pokémon would provide the crystal Zygarde with enough Infinity Energy to withstand whatever they could throw at it; the longer they battled, the stronger it would get.

But Lysandre hadn't managed to deceive the Hoenn Champion and the leading expert on Mega Evolution by being stupid. The brat with the transforming Greninja had surprised him before, and so he would take no chances at letting them get through. Raising his gauntlet and activating the targeting program in his HUD, he zoomed in on the approaching assault team to try and thin their numbers.

His first chance came when the Fairy-type Gym Leader paused for half a second too long when giving her Spritzee an order. Locking on to her petite form, he sent a command to the self-defense mechanisms implanted around the core of the crystal that marked her location as high-priority.

The first wave of roots was disrupted by a Future Sight attack, but the second managed to ensnare Valerie, causing Spritzee to immediately break off her assault and attempt a rescue. Somewhat curiously, though, none of the others seemed to spare her a backward glance. In fact, it was almost as if they _expected_ to lose her…

 _Right – they're all self-sacrificing fools._ Lysandre reminded himself. _They probably agreed beforehand to not stop and rescue each other, but what do they gain from a head-on charge?_ Realizing that he was getting distracted by trying to understand their flawed ways of thinking, he returned his attention to his scope. _No matter. One target down; now for the next._

The Shalour Gym Leader was his next target: her Mega Lucario appeared to be doing something with its Aura to make the roots nearby more sluggish, and if he could disrupt that process by taking her out of the equation, the entire problem would become much, much easier. This time, it took three attempts thanks to the intervention of Clemont's sharp-eyed Luxray, but she was soon temporarily incapacitated as well.

He was then pleasantly surprised when the Megalith captured Ramos on its own; the Gym Leader having made the mistake of connecting his Gogoat to its 'nervous system' by binding its roots together with Grass Knot. _It may have been slightly easier thanks to the fact that this Zygarde is half-plant,_ he mused as he lined up his next shot, _but that also means that it can detect the flow of Grass energy inside itself. And for what – a bridge?_

His next target was Ash and the black-haired teen with him, who were leading the pack and thus likely to be the second-most dangerous threats (just behind the Champions themselves). He sent a wave of vines after them, but Ash – as if he had sensed the pulse of energy targeting them, which was not unlikely considering the Aura abilities that he had revealed – yelled out a warning, and they slashed the vines to pieces using a series of well-rehearsed motions. Almost immediately afterwards, the Cyllage Gym Leader buried the vines' twitching remains under a Rock Tomb as Viola fused together its gaps with a Solarbeam.

There was a silver lining to this setback, however. By the time the roots managed to break through the Rock Tomb, Viola herself was occupying the same space he had indicated as a target. In an act of foolish chivalry, Grant raced over to catch her as she fell, exposing himself to capture as well. _That's five out of the picture, and over half the remaining Mega Evolutions are too far away to perform a last-minute rescue without the risk of being captured themselves._ Lysandre thought dispassionately, pulling back to survey the whole battlefield again. _I suppose that means the next target is Wulfric, and then the brat who runs Prism Tower's Gym._

It turned out that he didn't even have to attack Wulfric directly to bring him down – when his targeting scope missed, the Zygarde faithfully attacked empty air, shifting the 'ground' under Abomasnow's feet and causing gravity to work against it. Its Trainer was quick-witted enough, however, to return Abomasnow before it could be restrained, causing Lysandre to frown. _Do they know about its energy absorption properties?_ he wondered, eyes once again flickering to all the Mega-Evolved Pokémon lingering around the edges of its attack range. Pushing the thought to the back of his mind, he returned his focus to those still uncaptured.

The news crew and their Gourgeist were little more than an afterthought, though Lysandre was slightly disappointed that Diantha's Gardevoir was able to spare enough focus to catch them. He attempted to send an attack at Diantha's unguarded flank, but Ash's companion managed to move at an almost impossible speed to counter. It almost appeared as if the sword he held was _pulling_ him to be in the right position, moving him faster than a normal sprint.

Lysandre summoned another, larger set of vines to slow them down – and then everything fell to pieces. Steven and Diantha selected the two largest roots of the set, combining Gardevoir's precision with Metagross's power to twist them into a bridge, which then fell into place with its end less than a foot away from the crystal encasing the construct's 'heart.' Ash threw his sword to his friend (causing Lysandre to belatedly realize that it was a Doublade and not just a pair of Honedge), who turned into a whirling dervish that Eclipsed any attempts to bypass his guard. And less than three seconds later, the entirety of Ash's League team (bar Charizard, who was still drawing attention out at the edges of the fight) appeared beside him, blasting the crystal of the Megalith at point-blank range.

A cloud of smoke erupted from the point of contact, obscuring Lysandre's vision. He quickly switched over to infrared and felt an unusual urge to swear – with all the Pokémon clustered together next to the crystal, it was impossible to tell whether Ash had managed to break through or whether he was still stuck outside. It was at that moment that a thought struck him: _why was Alain not part of the team trying to get in?_ After all, his obsession with saving the little girl's Chespin was the entire reason the plan had reached fruition as quickly as it did, so why would he not be trying to get it himself if they knew it was in there? They had the airship, which means they had to have been at the base when Chespie was absorbed – so _why_ was Alain not rushing in blindly?

On a whim, he turned his scope to look at the group hanging back near the parked vehicles – only to see Mairin with a Chespin-shaped blob of heat on her shoulder cheering wildly. The sight froze him for a few seconds, and only the sound of the crystal Zygarde slowly rumbling to a stop returned him to reality. _But… my plan was foolproof! How could…_ He gritted his teeth, switching his gauntlet from its 'input secondary commands' function to full-control mode and bringing his hand up to make a fist in front of his face. _Fine. I'll do it myself._

* * *

Omake: If Insanity Falls in the Forest, and No Character Development is Around to Heal It…

* * *

"I didn't even wanna come to this stupid camp anyway!" a five-year-old Serena sobbed, clutching her hurt knee. "Now I'm lost, and my knee hurts, and I want my mommy!"

Her tirade was interrupted by a voice coming from the nearby bushes. " _Poooliwaaaag,_ where are youuuu~?" its owner sing-songed, pushing his way through the foliage. It was another kid about her age – in fact, she thought she recalled seeing him at the table next to hers at breakfast that morning. Another whimper escaped her lips, drawing his attention, and their eyes met.

And they _remembered._

Not sharing experiences, a previous life together, or anything like that – no, to do that justice would require an entire story, not simply a one-page snippet. And besides, where would the fun be in that? Instead, what surfaced in their minds was simply how to use all the abilities displayed thus far in _this_ story… only without any sort of character development behind them whatsoever.

"Oh, is your knee hurt?" Ash asked blithely, hands already glowing blue. "I can fix that, no problem!" As he sent a pulse of Aura into her knee to restore it, the gears in her five-year-old brain began turning. _Wait a minute – if I want Mommy, I can just go home right now!_ Fixing the image of her living room in her mind, she vanished in a shimmer of bluish-white. (Her mom _may_ have screamed in terror when she walked out of the kitchen to see Serena sitting happily on the couch watching TV, but that's not important right now.)

With Serena gone, Ash now remembered the Poliwag he had been chasing, and a mischievous glint appeared in his eye. _You're mine now, Poliwag!_ Clasping his hands together in a now-familiar pattern, he split off a doppelgänger and sent it off to the left while he went to the right. And since his Aura recharged itself at the same rate as when he was fully grown, he was able to repeat the process every few seconds – until eventually half the forest was full of copies of Ash all chasing the same Poliwag.

Up in the Hall of Origin, Arceus backpedaled in horror. **_What in the name of Me have I just done here?_**

An excellent question, Arceus; an excellent question.

But that is for another time.

(And likely another author as well.)


	16. Chapter 16

**.**

 **A/N: This is the first of two chapters today (as per my promise last week).**

"We did it, guys!" Ash cheered, poking his head out of the hole in the crystal Zygarde's chest. His Pokémon moved aside to open up a pathway, and the rest of him soon followed. "We were right – the necklace _was_ the key, and without it the whole thing shut down!"

"Good… good thing, too…" Kazuto heaved, leaning heavily on Genos's hilts as he recovered his breath. "Forgot how much… stamina that combo needs. The next attack probably… probably would have taken me out."

Wulfric chuckled heartily, his elbow resting on a now-inert root. "Maybe so, but how many people can say they have the skill necessary to hold off a monster like that by themselves? I saw you fighting, and while your Doublade may have given your hits extra power and speed, the talent was all you."

 _"I agree with his assessment, Master."_ Genos chimed in, reaching a tassel up to pat him on the back. _"Once again you have shown me how much I have yet to learn, and I shall not be satisfied until I have reached that level for myself."_

Kazuto tried to muster the energy to be properly annoyed, but had to settle for a half-hearted swipe that the cloth easily danced around. "Oh shut up, you."

A voice from the side drew his attention, and he glanced over to see the Coumarine Gym leader observing him with a hand on his Gogoat's horns. "My, my, you must have a strong bond to be able to understand your partner's words so easily – and not only that, you demonstrated an absolute trust during the battle that even Gogoat and I took years to achieve. To see something like that in action, both from you _and_ from Ash, is a welcome view for old eyes like mine."

Kazuto inclined his head respectfully, discomfort flashing across his brow at the tug on his overstressed muscles that reminded him how sore they'd be the next day. "Thanks. I think you overestimate how well we understand each other, though – I only met Genos the day the League conference started, about a week ago."

Ramos' eyebrow quirked upwards, shifting his beret slightly. "Really? I must say, you looked as if you had been working together for much longer than that."

Kazuto shook his head, finally pushing himself to a standing position and beginning the trek down towards the rest of the group. "No, I just have a lot of experience with swords. That, and Genos' tassels somehow let us send thoughts back and forth thanks to SOME KIND OF WEIRDNESS THAT I BLAME ASH FOR!"

His last comment, spoken in a loud, teasing tone, garnered an exaggerated eye roll and a sarcastic retort from his friend. "OH, SO ANYTIME SOMETHING'S WEIRD, THAT MEANS IT'S MY FAULT?"

Kazuto lowered his voice slightly as he and the others drew closer. "It's a pretty safe assumption to make!" he called back with a grin on his face.

"Yeah, well…" Ash trailed off, trying to think of a witty response. Nothing came to mind immediately, so he simply resorted to a childish standby. "Well, your _face_ is a pretty safe assumption to make!"

" _Really_?" Bonnie interrupted, arms crossed and wearing her standard 'my-brother-just-gave-another-invention-a-lame-name' Unimpressed Look. "That didn't even make any sense – even _I_ could do better than that!"

"A* _HEM_.*"

Everyone turned to look at Blaziken Mask, who had just cleared his throat loudly. "Before anybody gets too distracted, we should remember that we still need to do something about the core _and_ the giant Zygarde over there. With as close as that thing is to Anistar, if we just leave it here someone could reactivate it and we wouldn't be able to do anything."

"He makes a fair point." Steven acknowledged, glancing between it and the Sundial a couple of times. "Ash, do you know how to get rid of the energy in that necklace?"

"Already on it." The Aura adept cupped his hands around the gem, a visible blue shimmer coating them, and its red glow slowly darkened to purple – followed by indigo, and finally ending with its original sapphire coloration. As the energy faded, he quietly approached Serena and fastened the clasp around her neck.

"I believe this is yours." he said softly, fingers lingering near her shoulders as he gazed into her eyes. _Hey, how long do you think it'll take for someone to get uncomfortable if we keep acting exaggeratedly affectionate like this?_

 _I'm guessing about ten seconds._ Serena replied, amusement glinting in her eyes. She followed it up with a smile that genuinely stole his breath despite the element of playacting. "Thank you, Ash."

His right hand moved from her shoulder to brush a stray hair behind her ear, "Anything for you, Serena." _I'd say more like fifteen. Right now, they've just got their 'aww, that's adorable'_ _faces on._

 _Nope, you were wrong._ Serena answered, her face losing all trace of humor as she stiffened up right at the ten-second mark. She swiveled her head to look at the dormant Megalith Zygarde, and her expression alerted the others that something was wrong.

"What? What is it?" Diantha said sharply, deciphering her concern in an instant.

"Lysandre's here, and he's trying to get that thing running again!"

Professor Sycamore inhaled sharply. "But how? I thought we extracted the core from it! Where is he going to get something else that can channel the power?"

Alain's eyes widened, and he slammed his fist onto his palm. "Those drones that he used to Mega-Evolve his Gyarados – they're connected to his gauntlet, which should let him control that thing directly."

"An excellent deduction, Alain…" Lysandre's voice congratulated as he strode into view atop the massive construct. He clenched his fist and raised it into the air, and the crystal Zygarde whirred back to life menacingly. "Unfortunately, it will make no difference in the end. This world _shall_ be remade, even if I must perish myself to ensure it."

An eerie glow built up in front of its central crystal, and Lysandre twisted his face into a horrific grin. "Now, DIE!"

* * *

"Spritzee, Light Screen!" Valerie ordered, thankful that the whole group was clustered together and not spread out in a single-file line. With less area to defend, the Perfume Pokémon was able to set up the Screen more efficiently, which meant that the group as a whole would take less damage from whatever managed to get past.

"Gardevoir, reinforce me!" Serena called, throwing up a Light Screen of her own just behind Spritzee's. On her own, she had no illusions that she could stand up to the attack's power – but against a weakened assault, with a Champion's Pokémon acting as her 'battery,' her chances were much higher.

The beam of destruction lanced out, melting a furrow into the rock as Lysandre adjusted his aim and impacting the shield not half a second later. It ground against Spritzee's Light Screen for several seconds before shattering it, and Serena belatedly realized that she had miscalculated. The rule of thumb about Light Screen absorbing half the energy of an equal-strength attack before it broke was formulated against one-off attacks, not continuous-fire assaults, which meant that she and Gardevoir were now up against the full power of the crystal Zygarde. Thankfully, Ash and Greninja realized that the flow of energy to the beam was beginning to taper off – which meant it was now a battle of endurance.

Deciding to take inspiration from the way Greninja sometimes deflected attacks, she shifted the shape of her Light Screen from a smooth sphere to a large, sharply-angled V. While the joint of the two sides added a weak point where there was none previously, it also meant that the majority of the assault was _deflected_ rather than being taken head-on, making survivability much more likely. Unfortunately, exhaustion prevented her from maintaining control for long after such a dramatic shift, and the shield shattered much like Spritzee's had. The red beam continued on, seeking out its targets almost hungrily –

– and ground itself out on Metagross' Protect shield, doing little more than kick up a cloud of dust. "Is everyone alright?" Steven asked, giving Metagross a thankful pat as he surveyed the rest of the group.

"Yeah, we're fine." Clemont replied, pulling himself out from underneath the cape that he and Bonnie hand found themselves under. "And I appreciate the thought, Blaziken Mask, but why did you go out of your way to shield me, too? Bonnie I can understand, but I _am_ a Gym Leader for a reason."

"…I had my reasons." the vigilante said evasively, looking over Bonnie with a careful eye.

Clemont crossed his arms, unconvinced. "That's not an answer."

Kazuto interrupted. "Well, we've got more important things to deal with right now. Besides, weren't you ever taught not to talk back to your parents?"

"What does that have to do with…" Clemont trailed off, gears turning in his head, and he took a closer look at Blaziken Mask. "…Dad? Is that you?"

"Um, uh… surprise?"

The blond inventor slapped his forehead in realization. "So _that's_ where those inventions have been disappearing to – you've been taking them to use for your superhero work! And I thought I was starting to have memory problems…"

Meyer grinned mareepishly. "You got me. I have to admit, though, they _did_ make pretty good flash-bombs."

The sound of a massive _thud_ answered him, and he blinked and looked away from Bonnie to see his son faceplanted on the ground with his limbs in an impressive tangle above him. "Clemont? Are you okay?"

"…okay, maybe saying that _right now_ was a mistake." Kazuto admitted to himself, noting that Lysandre had started the crystal Zygarde moving again. "Alain, you said the devices were linked to his gauntlet, right? That means destroying it is our best bet."

Steven nodded. "The biggest problem is going to be getting in close enough. I guess we can only hope that it no longer drains Mega Evolution energy to power itself."

Ash clenched his fist. "Even if it does, we've still gotta give it everything we've got! Genos, do you mind if I borrow half of you so that I don't have to concentrate on projecting a sword again?"

"Good idea." Kazuto agreed. "You've still got a lot more stamina left than me, so I see no reason why that should be a problem."

 _"If Master approves, then I trust his judgment."_ Genos hummed, handing one sword over to Ash. _"And this way, I can also transmit information between the two of you."_

Kazuto's eyes lit up as he made the connection. "Which means I can still help with strategy even if I'm back here! Good thinking, Genos."

Korrina ran past with Mega Lucario in tow, pumping her fist enthusiastically. "Yeah – let's do this!" she shouted to nobody in particular as she charged forward.

"Well, you heard the lady." Wulfric grunted, a grin tugging at his moustache as he Mega-Evolved his Abomasnow again. "The longer we wait, the less time we have." Almost as one, the rest of the company surged forward, intent on protecting Kalos from Lysandre's destructive plan.

* * *

 _"I do not understand…"_ Z-2 said, his eye roving over the charging warriors. _"They have no way of stopping that thing – even with all their defensive power, they could barely escape ONE attack. And yet –"_ he squirmed slightly as Bonnie's grip tightened protectively. _"Yet still they choose to stand against it, as though they do not care for their own lives. Why are they like this?"_

Squishy turned to face his counterpart. _"It is_ _ **because**_ _they care for life that they choose to fight. They see it as something worth protecting, and that desire to protect grants them strength. Perhaps not physical strength, but courage and resolve to keep fighting – to work together, setting aside their differences and becoming stronger than simply the sum of their parts."_

His eye then crinkled in amusement. _"Do you not remember? Our power is the same way. When we fight alone we are formidable opponents, yes – but when we set aside our goals and independence for the sake of protecting this world's order, we surpass the power of even our second forms working side-by-side."_

Z-2's face hardened, and he nodded in understanding. _"Then that is what we must do. And I thank you for the reminder – in my anger at the cruelty humans are capable of, I completely lost sight of our original mandate."_

 _"Do not dwell on it, brother."_ Squishy consoled him. _"That is why the Original One created us as two, so that we might be able to remind each other if one forgets. But we can discuss this once the danger is past. Right now, it is time that we fulfill our duty."_

* * *

As his enemies tumbled backwards from the force of his creation's second energy blast, Lysandre couldn't help smirking in satisfaction. They may have been able to weather the worst of the damage by angling their defenses, but even the reduced power that snuck past was enough to scatter them and throw their formation into disarray. And based on the way their shields were vibrating under the stress, he would be able to take them out in one blow once the 'cannon's' energy reserves recharged.

Not even the sight of the two Zygarde cores leaping out of the little blonde girl's arms and standing side by side was enough to mar his mood; rather, it simply amused him further. Sending a surge of energy to repair the vines that the pesky Trainers had managed to damage, he called out mockingly. "And just what do _you_ intend to do against me? Your cells were depleted no more than an hour ago – and even if every single cell in Kalos was miraculously at full strength, my creation could still defeat you quite easily."

Neither Zygarde core had ever spoken in anything other than warbles within his earshot before, so he was quite surprised when he 'heard' a voice responding loud and clear.

 ** _YOUR ARROGANCE SHALL BE YOUR DOWNFALL._** the twin Zygarde chorused, a dome of green hexagons briefly surrounding them. **_AS DEFENDERS OF ORDER, OUR MANDATE EXTENDS TO_** **ALL** ** _REGIONS OF THIS EARTH. AND WHEN FACING A THREAT OF THIS MAGNITUDE, ONE THAT SEEKS TO UPSET THE NATURAL ORDER OF LIFE AND DEATH, WE ARE AUTHORIZED TO CALL UPON AID FROM ALL LANDS THAT HAVE BEEN PLACED IN DANGER. BEHOLD, OUR TRUE POWER!_**

A single streak of green arched lazily across the sky, and Lysandre scoffed. That was _all_? So much for 'true power.' He turned his head to target the Trainers again – and another flash of green appeared in his peripheral vision. It was soon followed by another, and another, and another, until finally the Cells were arriving in one unbroken stream.

 _I suppose this_ _ **could**_ _actually become a problem._ he decided, switching the targeting system on his gauntlet to aim for the largest concentration of Zygarde's power besides that contained in the Megalith. _Best to take care of it before it actually does._

For some odd reason, though, it refused to stay aimed at the two Zygarde cores; instead, the target appeared to be somewhere beyond the horizon. Raising his eyes from his arm, he looked out to see why – and suddenly, he realized that that the sky's reddish cast had almost completely been subsumed by bright green. A literal _wave_ of cells was approaching from all directions, so numerous that it had to be seen to be believed. And at the epicenter of that wave, a vortex of light burst up toward the heavens, swirling around the two Cores in a semblance of ordered chaos.

 ** _YOU SHALL NOT DESTROY THIS WORLD._** Zygarde's unified voices boomed. **_SO SAY WE, ZYGARDE!_**

As the last of the wave was absorbed by the vortex, it burst to reveal a monolithic creature nearly half the height of the crystal Zygarde Lysandre was riding. But where his creation seemed like a crudely-sculpted juggernaut, its opponent was a work of art – each movement of its new bipedal form betraying power, efficiency, _order._ Not a single motion appeared to be wasted; even the dramatic rippling of its four winglike appendages seemed to have _purpose_ behind it.

 _"Impossible…"_ Lysandre whispered, eyes widening as he took in the majestic sight of Zygarde's Complete Forme. His disbelief soon turned to anger, though, and he stepped forward menacingly. "All my attempts to purge the world by using your power to its fullest, and yet you HID THIS POWER FROM ME? Even when I allowed you to see for yourself the chaos that results from human greed growing unchecked? That was not a mere illusion I showed you – though it may have taken that form, it was built from my own memories, my own experiences. Surely you can see that I only want to make the world perfect once again!"

 ** _THAT IS EXACTLY THE PROBLEM. YOU_** **WANT** ** _._** Zygarde responded, staring him down unflinchingly. **_YOUR OWN GREED HAS SKEWED YOUR PERSPECTIVE, AND NOW YOU PERPETUATE THE VERY CHAOS THAT YOU CLAIM TO HATE. YOU SEEK TO DESTROY THIS WORLD'S NATURAL ORDER, WHILE THEY SEEK TO PROTECT IT._**

 ** _I have experienced this for myself,_** Squishy added, **_so I know that this is the truth of their ideals._** His brother added his voice once again. **_AND SO WE CHOOSE TO STAND ALONGSIDE THEM – IT IS_** **OUR** ** _TURN TO PROTECT_** **THEM.**

"So be it." Lysandre growled, activating the Megalith Zygarde's energy cannon once more. "If you wish to stand alongside them, then you shall _die_ alongside them."

 _No. They shall not._

A blue glow surrounded his gauntlet and twisted it into a mangled wreck – crushing his forearm along with it. He screamed in pain, barely cognizant of the fact that Zygarde had easily countered his attack with a four-pronged Dragon Pulse. His jetpack was similarly crushed into scrap, and he stared with glassy eyes as a large feline Pokémon hovered into view, a small dragon with blue feathers fluttering around its shoulder.

 _Destroy this abomination as you see fit,_ it announced with a wave of its hand. _I leave to you whether death or life shall be_ _ **his**_ _punishment._

 ** _WHO_** **ARE** ** _YOU?_** Zygarde asked in confusion.

The Psychic-type's reply held a tinge of amusement. _Right now, my duty is simply that of an escort. And yet, through some quirk of fortune, this task has granted me the opportunity to further atone for my own past iniquities._

Zygarde looked at him appraisingly. **_YOU ARE QUITE THE MYSTERIOUS ALLY,_** he said, turning back to face Lysandre's creation. **_BUT I SUPPOSE THE TIME FOR FURTHER QUESTIONS SHALL COME LATER, ONCE THIS ABERRANCY HAS BEEN DEALT WITH._** The 'mouth' on his chest opened wide, a massive sphere of blue-green energy building up in front of it. **_KALOS SHALL BE PROTECTED!_**

Destruction lanced out, tracing a massive "Z" into the barren landscape as it carved through the heart of the crystal monstrosity. Everywhere that its 'skin' had been ruptured by the simultaneous destruction of the devices within, Zygarde's attack flooded its internal structure – the very _essence_ of his Core Enforcer so ordered that its negative energy could gain no purchase.

Lysandre's brain only belatedly registered these events, the very immediate (and very real) pain in his broken arm drowning out the majority of his awareness. The other part was protesting in disbelief at how badly things had spiraled out of control. First, the pest from Kanto had managed to sway Alain much too quickly – and _then_ he broke out of his restraints and took out Pyroar as if it were nothing, forcing him to Mega-Evolve Gyarados if he even wanted a _chance_ to hold off Ash and Alain. Almost immediately after _that_ , their friends were somehow able to bypass Xerosic's 'foolproof new computer language' and disrupt his control over Z-2, followed by _Malva_ betraying him as well.

And even after he had escaped, _another_ group of them had somehow managed to sabotage the crystal Zygarde he had created as a backup plan by preventing Chespie from getting absorbed (which would have enhanced its defensive programming by hijacking Chespie's instincts). _Then_ , they still managed to bring it to a halt even though he was coordinating its defenses more effectively than a simple program could have – and when he reactivated it, it turned out that Zygarde _had not been fighting anywhere near full power the entire time._ Add in the fact that they now had a Legendary-class Psychic-type on their side, and that all his backup plans had been exhausted, and it soon became clear that he was now horribly, vastly outmatched.

But he still had resources – connections in the underworld of Kalos. Though he had hated their necessity, he now realized that it would take every single bit of his influence there to escape into hiding, to build up his strength for another attempt to recreate a world of peace. And _next_ time, he would have learned from his mistakes, prepared for _every_ plausible eventuality that could stand in his way.

He would _no longer_ be thwarted by idealistic little upstarts who thought they knew better than him; no, he would examine his plans strenuously for any sort of weakness, determine the best way that those weaknesses could be exploited, and then develop a plan to counter any such assault before it could even begin. And if they attempted the same against him, he would simply play the game one level deeper. He _would_ triumph, he _would_ recreate the world. He _would_ –

A burning sensation similar to the pain in his arm washed over him, and then there was nothing.

* * *

Omake: I Have No Excuse For This One (Redux)

* * *

 _…bird…monkey…ram… and done!_ **"Kuchiyose no jutsu!"** Naruto yelled, slamming his hand down on the ground and laughing happily. "I told you I could do it, ero-sennin!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Jiraiya dismissed, keeping his face neutral as he inwardly marveled at how quickly his student's kid had mastered the series of hand-seals. "Now let me grab the contract, and then you can actually try using chakra next time."

The dumbfounded look on the kid's face made him pause. "Wait, I wasn't _supposed_ to use chakra that time?"

Jiraiya's eyes widened in horror. _Didn't he hear when I told him this jutsu was_ _ **never**_ _supposed to be performed without a contract? Come to think of it, why hasn't he been reverse-summoned ye–_

A cloud of smoke erupted between them, and the Sannin immediately strained his vision to see if Naruto's uncontrolled summons was a hostile species. After a quick E-rank _Fuuton_ jutsu to blow away the smoke, he was surprised to see what appeared to be a human in civilian clothing standing there. "Hey, I know you!" Naruto shouted, pointing dramatically and surprising Jiraiya yet again. "You're that guy from the _omake_ genjutsu back when we first met Kakashi-sensei!"

Jiraiya frowned. Humans weren't normal summons, and if the stranger had been involved in a genjutsu that trapped Naruto, then there was always the potential that he had hostile intent. The fastest way to assess his loyalty? See how he responds to an attack.

Almost as soon as Jiraiya had drawn a kunai, the mysterious youth turned to face him, arms coming up defensively. _But how could he have sensed that so quickly?_ the sage wondered in that instant of adrenaline-stretched time. _It's almost as if he had both the Sharingan_ _ **and**_ _the Byakugan, but he doesn't have either!_ His astonishment was only compounded by the stranger's next move.

A bright blue sphere materialized in his hand, swirling with a mass of contained energy, and Jiraiya's eyes widened. _What the – he knows the_ _ **Rasengan**_ _too? Who_ _ **is**_ _this?_ He vaguely recognized Naruto's hands coming up in a ram seal, but trying to stop the boy from wasting his chakra on shadow clones was secondary to unraveling the newcomer's mystery. _Especially_ after he managed to throw his Rasengan – _throw_ the freaking _Rasengan_ , which he appeared to have formed with almost _zero effort_ – and deflect the kunai from its initial trajectory.

"Don't worry, ero-sennin, I got this!" Naruto called, making Jiraiya want to sigh in frustration at how naïve Minato's kid was. If the stranger could evade an attack from _him_ like it was nothing, then what could a Genin do against him?

Naruto's response to that question came in the form of two words: "NEXT CHAPTER!"


	17. Chapter 17

**.**

 **A/N: This is the second of two chapters today (and also the last chapter of this story, since I felt that my writing skills were insufficient to realistically portray the aftermath of an end-of-the-world event like the Kalos Crisis). I make no promises about whether or not there will be another installment - but since my job this summer is full-time (as opposed to part-time like the last few), if it *does* happen it would likely not be until well into next term. Enjoy the chapter, and farewell - at least for the time being.**

* * *

Zygarde landed heavily on the ground, bowing its head. **_IT IS DONE. NEITHER HE NOR HIS CREATION SHALL THREATEN THE WORLD ANY LONGER. WE ONLY HOPE THAT WE MADE THE RIGHT DECISION IN TAKING HIS LIFE._**

 _I have asked myself that question many times when thinking back on my earliest years._ Mewtwo responded somberly. _Though I was angry and confused when I slaughtered the scientists who created me, acting purely out of selfish instincts, I am also aware that had they lived they would have likely continued along the same destructive path as before. Even now, I sometimes ask myself: what would I have done differently if I knew then what I know now. And the question never gets any easier to answer._

Amusement tinged his voice once again. _By the way, you_ _ **do**_ _realize there is no need to yell any more, don't you?_

Zygarde looked at all the assembled Trainers, feeling somewhat awkward when several of them nodded in agreement. **_I apologize. This is the first time we have ever had allies while in this form, which means we have not practiced speaking softly to others._** It turned to face Mewtwo more fully and settled into a contemplative stance. **_Your earlier words intrigue us – you say you were created by humans much like that one, and yet you still fight to protect humanity?_**

Mewtwo crossed his arms, fixing Zygarde with a stare. _Yes. I was developed to be a more powerful clone of Mew, to be the World's Strongest Pokémon, and at first I believed that made humanity insignificant. That belief was challenged when I met Ash, and I eventually came to see that what people_ _ **do**_ _with what little power they have does more to define them than how much power they possess in the first place._ _ **That**_ _is why I fight for their protection: to give them the chance to make that choice, and to atone for the days when all I sought was their destruction._

 _"Yes, he is quite the_ nonvul nahgah _."_ Pina chirped, landing on his shoulder. _"Just as I have chosen to protect Silica-_ kiir _, so also has this_ wunduniik _chosen to be a_ vahlok _for this world's_ reyliik muz. _"_

"You do realize that nobody can understand more than half of what you just said, right?" Kazuto told her, fighting to maintain a straight face. "Of course, for me that's still an increase of about fifty percent, but still."

Pina looked over in surprise, finally noticing his presence. _"Kirito-_ kaal _– I was unaware that you would be arriving to escort me home to Silica-_ kiir _."_

Kazuto chuckled. "Well, that makes two of us. I came here because Ash invited me to watch him in a tournament, and then _this_ happened."

Pina nodded sagely, swooping over to perch on a rock in front of him. _"With the_ kestte _that follow Satoshi-_ hul _wherever he goes, I fully believe you."_ (A quiet ' _hey!_ ' could be heard from Ash's position, but as there was no hostility behind it, it was summarily ignored.) _"I assume that is also why you now understand my words?"_

"Kinda." Kazuto admitted, signaling the sword near Ash to come back over to him. "Meet Genos. He's basically a pair of living swords, and if I'm touching one of his tassels it lets me understand what you say."

 _"Do not forget – I am also your apprentice, Master."_ Genos _thrumm_ ed, drawing a sweatdrop from Kazuto.

"Oh yeah, he does that too." A thought then struck him, and his face narrowed in thought. "Wait a minute. I just remembered – dragons don't exist in Silica's and my world like they do in ALFheim, so how do you plan on trying to stay with her? No offense, but you'd stand out like a boss mob in the middle of the town square."

 _Your daughter has been assisting us with that._ Mewtwo cut in, levitating a small charm on a collar into his hand. _Since Pina had no genetic code to work from, I was able to activate the DNA marker that enables Pokémon to change Formes when holding an item. While wearing that collar, she will appear as a normal_ felis _from your world, allowing her to remain by her partner's side._

Pina stretched out her neck, and allowed Kazuto to put the collar on her, demonstrating the transformation. The shiny blue feathers covering her body dulled to a more silvery color, and her clawed feet thickened into pads as a long, sinuous tail formed where her rectrices formerly resided. Her wings folded in flat, sinking into her sides until there was no visible trace, and the sharply angled shape of her face became much more rounded as it shrank to the correct proportions.

When the transformation was finished, a blue-grey house cat perched primly on the promontory's pinnacle. She seemed a little on the exotic side for the area of Japan where they lived, but with any luck nobody would question Pina's presence. (She was also very definitely still Pina; in fact, the regal manner in which she normally carried herself in Battle Forme seemed like it was _made_ for her new House Forme.) She dipped her head gracefully, springing from her perch and landing lightly on his shoulder. _"Kirito-_ kaal _, I entrust myself to your care until I am able to fulfill my duty."_

Kazuto grinned and reached his hand up to stroke her on the head. "And I'll make sure you reach her as soon as I feasibly can."

As Zygarde watched their reunion, its expression seemed to soften. A warm and fuzzy feeling shot through it, confusing the core which had never experienced such before – but also reminding Squishy that his time with Bonnie would soon be coming to an end.

 ** _Bonnie._** He said, drawing everyone's attention once again. **_I am very grateful to you for the time we spent together, and I wish that it could have been longer. But as it is, my brother and I cannot maintain this form for much longer, and we must rest for a time to regain our strength._**

Water pooled at the corners of Bonnie's eyes as she let out a sniff, but she maintained her composure admirably. "I understand. Just… just make sure you come visit once you feel better, okay?"

Zygarde's head tilted briefly down and back up. **_We shall definitely do so. For now, however, it is time that we complete our task._** Facing in the direction they had come from, it let out a pulse of green energy that crumbled the roots Lysandre's pseudo-Zygarde had left in its wake into dust. Almost immediately afterwards, it appeared to lose more than half its Cells – the energy required to keep them merged with itself no longer present. It then turned towards Lumiose City and repeated the action, its final Cells scattering again as it did so. **_There. The tai_** _nt upon this… land has been… scoured away…_

Mewtwo caught the limp Cores in a gentle psychic hold, levitating them smoothly over to himself. _Not as thoroughly as you think._ the Psychic-type said, a mixture of sadness and amusement showing on his face. He looked out over the assembled crowd, and his next words brooked no argument. _While Zygarde may have taken care of the visible problems, I can still sense remnants of that vile energy lurking underneath the surface of this land. I have no pressing responsibilities of my own, so I shall remain with them and lend my assistance until all traces have been fully eradicated._

Diantha nodded gratefully. "We shall be forever in your debt."

 _"Yeah!"_ Greninja chimed in. _"Ash and I noticed the exact same thing, and I was worried that I would have to stay in Kalos to take care of it while they went to Alola to figure out the necklace thing they mentioned before the trophy ceremony."_ He glanced around to see everyone who could understand him giving him an odd stare. _"What?"_

Ash snorted and shook his head. "Well, for _one_ thing, I wouldn't have let you stay here alone for something like this, and for another, it'd be kind of hard to investigate it without you there with us."

 _"…point taken."_

 _As… amusing… as it is to witness you exchanging repartee like this,_ Mewtwo interjected, _I believe I shall take my leave at this point._ He held up a forepaw to forestall Bonnie, already having sensed what she was going to say. _And yes, your friend Squishy and his counterpart shall be in good hands – metaphorically speaking, of course._

Bonnie refused to be put off by the Psychic-type's manner, putting her hands on her hips and staring up at him. "You _better_ take good care of them, _or else._ " Dedenne chattered out its own agreement, and Mewtwo smiled nostalgically as he remembered the first time a Trainer with an Electric-type stood up to him so fearlessly. Granted, he had mellowed out since then, but the similarity was still quite striking.

 _I shall keep your words in mind,_ he said, rising up into the air. _Until we meet again, Ash._ In a blur of motion, he and the Zygarde cores shot off toward the horizon in the direction of the setting sun.

The corners of Ash's mouth twitched upwards, and he echoed his friend's parting words. "Until we meet again."

After Mewtwo was gone, Diantha looked at Kazuto questioningly. "Forgive me if I'm wrong, but did I just hear you say that you came from another world entirely?"

Kazuto grimaced. "I didn't intend for that to become public knowledge, but yes. Where I come from, Pokémon don't naturally exist – and even Pina here was originally just a program in a computer before Mewtwo created her a physical body."

Professor Sycamore rubbed at his stubble, intrigued. "Hmmm… I had heard the legends of people finding themselves in different dimensions while exploring Reflection Cave, but I always thought they were just that: stories. And now you say that you yourself are _from_ one of these other worlds – one without Pokémon, no less?"

Ash blinked. "Wait, did we never end up telling you about the first time we were there when an alternate-dimension me stole my Pikachu because he thought it was his?"

"To be fair, the next time we saw him was after the whole Aincrad incident." Serena pointed out, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Clemont was busy running his Gym, and it was long enough ago for both of us that it didn't exactly seem important any more."

"It's not surprising, though." Clemont interjected. "Remember how the two halves of the portal were moving away from each other on the way back? I get the feeling there's a set of those for each mirror and its corresponding dimension, and both halves of the set need to be present for the gateway to open. That would explain both why it's so rare and why my stabilizing machine worked a lot better than the one intended to force the portal open by itself."

 ** _Oh, COME ON!_** an exasperated voice complained inside their heads. **_You couldn't have waited another three years or so to figure that out? Now I owe Giratina a week off, which means_** **somebody** ** _else is going to have to watch the Distortion World – and I get the feeling I already know who it's going to be…_**

"Are you… throwing a hissy-fit?" Ash asked, bemused. "I'm kind of concerned that the creator of the entire Pokémon world is so upset over losing a bet…"

There was a definite note of childishness to Arceus' next statement. **_It's not a 'hissy-fit' – I am merely expressing my displeasure in an easily-heard vocal manner._**

"So… a tantrum, in other words."

 ** _No, it's not! My word defines your reality, so if I say it's not a tantrum, then it isn't. End of story._**

Ash let out an amused _huff_. "Whatever you say…"

 ** _Exactly. Now, it's time that I send your friend back to his world before I get stuck in a role of non-interference. Hoopa!_**

 _Aww, but Hoopa was about to eat the purple sprinkly donut…_ Hoopa pouted, having been physically summoned by Arceus' command. _Hoopa still listens, though._

"I see what you mean." Kazuto stage-whispered to Ash. "With how childish they seem to act, it's amazing this world hasn't destroyed itself yEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee–"

* * *

"–eeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEOOF!"

Kazuto laid still for a few seconds, recovering his breath from the sudden landing. "Wow, I never thought I'd actually need that beanbag chair Suguha gave me for my birthday. Thanks, Sugu – my rear end really appreciates it now."

 _"Forgive me if I am wrong, Master, but did you not mention to Ash and the others that your cousin was not in the vicinity of your room?"_ Genos questioned, hovering in the air near his head.

"It's called 'thinking out loud,' Genos." Kazuto replied as he hoisted himself back to his feet. "People do that sometimes."

The sound of Kazuto's phone ringing interrupted them. "Huh, I wonder why Silica would be calling… Hello?"

 _"Kazuto, thank goodness!"_ Silica exclaimed in relief. _"Pina just got hit by a car, and Mom and Dad are at work so they can't drive us to the vet – can you come over on your bike?"_

Kazuto glanced over at the feline currently sitting on his bed. "Wait a minute, did you just say _Pina_ got hit by a car? She's sitting on my bed right now…"

 _"Not_ _ **that**_ _Pina, my_ _ **cat**_ _Pina!"_ Silica clarified, too distraught to notice what her friend had just implied. _"I don't think the driver even noticed her – they just kept on going!"_

"I'll be there as soon as possible." Kazuto promised. "Try and keep her comfortable, and be ready to tell me how to get to the vet's place."

Silica sniffled. _"R-right. Thanks a lot, Kazuto."_

"No problem." Kazuto hung up and walked over to his motorcycle helmet, pulling out Genos and Pina's Pokéballs as he did so. "Genos, return. Pina, you too. Let's go help Silica."

* * *

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Silica asked as they pulled up to the veterinary clinic's parking lot. Kazuto dismounted the motorcycle first, gently taking Pina's box from Silica so as not to jostle its contents.

"I don't know." he told her honestly as she climbed off and took the box back. "I've always been more of a computer person than a creature person, so I don't know just how bad it is. We'll just have to trust that the vet knows what he or she is doing."

Silica nodded, eyes still rimmed with red. "Thanks for being here to help me with this."

Kazuto smiled. "You're welcome. Oh, and I brought another friend to help you."

The young girl looked at him in confusion, especially when he pulled out a small red-and-white sphere that expanded to the size of a baseball and tossed it lightly. A flash of blue light appeared, carefully shielded from outside observance by their positioning, and her longtime companion from Aincrad and ALFheim swirled into existence on the ground next to them.

 _"Greetings once again, Silica-_ kiir _. I wish that our reunion could be under more pleasant circumstances, but dealing with your_ fonaar _'s injury is the most important task at this moment."_

Silica's breath hitched in her throat, disbelief written on her face. "Pina? Is that really you?"

The transformed dragon's head bobbed in confirmation. _"I am, indeed. But as I mentioned, acquiring medical treatment for my namesake is our highest priority – every second we spend here is another second she remains in peril."_

"I don't know exactly what she just said, but I've got a pretty good guess – and I agree." Kazuto said, taking Silica by the shoulder and steering her toward the entrance. "Doctor first, reunion later. I only let Pina out now so that I wouldn't make a scene by doing it inside with people watching."

A bell jingled above the door as they entered, and the receptionist looked up. "Hello, and welcome to –"

She hurriedly broke off her greeting when she saw Silica's worried face. "Good lord, Keiko – what happened?"

"It's Pina, Miss Hayashi – she got hit by a car!" Silica told her, cradling the box protectively.

"I've told you before, Keiko; Miss Honoka is fine." the receptionist said, picking up the phone from her desk and pressing the intercom button. "Paging doctor Ichirou Maki to the examination room – we have an injured cat that needs treatment. Patient was struck by a vehicle and is in critical condition."

As an orderly came from the back door and gently took Pina's box from Silica's arms, Honoka thumbed through the cubbyholes on her desk and pulled out several papers. "If you would please fill out these forms to the best of your ability? Our records should be up to date, since you brought her last week for a checkup, but it's still protocol."

Silica sniffled again. "I think I can still do that. I've gotta be strong for Pina's sake!"

The receptionist smiled warmly. "Atta girl, Keiko. You do the best you can, and we'll do the best we can." Pina sang out her agreement, jumping from Kazuto's shoulder to Silica's and butting against the underside of her chin. "Oh? And who is this?"

Thankfully, Kazuto had come up with an explanation on the way over that still told the truth without giving anything away. "She was originally going to be a surprise birthday present from me and my fianceé to help keep Pina company, but when Silica – I mean, _Keiko_ – told me what happened with Pina I figured she might be valuable support while we waited for news."

Honoka let out a cute little coo when she heard his story. "Aww, how thoughtful! If you hadn't just said you were engaged, I would have snapped you up in a heartbeat."

At the nonplussed look on his face, she laughed loudly. "Don't worry, kid, I'm just teasing you. My husband and I just celebrated our eighth anniversary, and I wouldn't have chosen anyone else for the world. You should've seen the look on your face, though."

Silica giggled quietly at that, and Kazuto quickly realized what Honoka had been trying to do. "Well, congratulations then." he said, bowing respectfully. "It's nice to know that Keiko and Pina are in good hands whenever they come here."

She waved him off self-deprecatingly. "Oh, the pleasure is all mine, Mr…"

"Kirigaya. Kazuto Kirigaya. But in all honesty, thank you. Keiko is like an honorary little sister to me, and I hate to see her upset."

As he escorted Silica to one of the chairs so she could start on the paperwork, Honoka smiled at their retreating backs. "Your fianceé is a lucky woman…" she said under her breath. "Here's hoping your relationship lasts just as well as, if not better than, mine."

If she didn't know better, she would have _sworn_ that the cat on Silica's shoulder had heard her and replied with a _why-are-you-asking-for-something-already-guaranteed_ look. But even if she _had_ heard, a common house cat couldn't have understood her full meaning.

…could it have?

* * *

A week later, at the Dicey Café, Honoka Hayashi watched with a bittersweet smile on her face as Silica opened her birthday presents. Unfortunately, Pina's age combined with the severity of her injuries meant that letting her pass on quietly had been the kindest option, and Honoka had had to witness Ichirou breaking that news to Keiko (albeit as gently as he could). The girl had taken it like a trooper – understandable, thanks to her time in Kayaba's abhorrent game of death – but to have such a thing happen so close to the time of a happy celebration was something Honoka thought no child should have to face.

Eventually, all the inanimate gifts were out of the way, and it was time for Kazuto and Asuna's present. Nobody was surprised when the blue-grey cat poked its head out of the box (though Rika appeared to be visibly restraining herself from squealing at its cuteness), but given that they all knew what had happened, the lack of surprise was very reasonable.

"Well? What are you gonna call her?" Kazuto asked gently, giving no indication that the question had been pre-rehearsed.

Keiko smiled softly, nostalgic tears creeping into the corners of her eyes. "I decided to name her after the pet who stayed by my side for years. She may not be here physically any more, but her companionship will live on in my heart as long as I have a Pina to share it with."

The newly (re-)minted Pina purred softly, bouncing up into her owner's lap and nuzzling her hand. _"I shall once again aspire to be worthy of this name."_

Honoka's eyes misted up, and she absently rested a hand on her stomach. _I only hope that Daiki and I can provide Kaoru family and friends like this when the time comes._

"They grow up so fast, don't they?" Mrs. Ayano commented from beside her. "Why, it seems like only yesterday that she was in diapers – and now she's fourteen and already saying mature things like that!" She turned to the expectant mother and looked at her intently. "A word of advice: if you have a chance to spend time with your child, take it. Looking back on the two years Keiko was in the hospital, I found that my biggest regret was not having spent more time with her beforehand."

Honoka nodded. "Trust me, I plan to. Even from over here, I can _feel_ the bonds connecting them all in friendship, and I don't intend to provide Kaoru with anything less."

"Mmm."

They watched in silence as Keiko and Pina played with Yui (whose physical age had been reverted to about five for adoption purposes), the little girl shrieking with laughter whenever Pina pounced on Keiko and Keiko dramatically collapsed. It may have been loud and repetitive, even ear-piercing at times – but to the ears of a mother, the noise of happy children would always be the most wonderful sound on earth.

* * *

Omake: The Rupture of a Star

* * *

 _"We have no choice, General Calrissian!"_ the Admiral's voice came over the _Falcon_ 's radio. _"Our cruisers can't repel firepower of that magnitude!"_

"Han will have that shield down." Lando said, shoring up his shaky confidence with the trust he had in his friend. "We've got to give him more t–"

Suddenly, the _Falcon_ shuddered and changed course on its own, breaking off from the battle to swoop around to the Death Star's flank. _"General Calrissian, what's going on?"_

Lando pressed buttons on the console frantically, attempting to get a diagnostic. "I don't know – she did this herself!"

The ship came to a halt about a quarter of the way around, and an unfamiliar voice drowned out Ackbar's. _"I apologize for doing this, but I desired to ensure that your companions would not be caught in the crossfire. You now have control of this ship once again."_

A light on the control panel flashed briefly, indicating that the external data port outside the _Falcon_ 's main ramp had been activated – and then a small black and white figure floated into view outside the cockpit.

"Is that a… a _human girl_?" Lando asked, staring dumbfounded. "How is she surviving, much less _moving_? And did she say she was going to destroy the Death Star _by herself?_ "

The black-haired girl held out her hand, white dress fluttering around her, and an ornate golden object appeared in a muted flash of blue. It looked like a tapered cylinder attached to a handle, and Lando found himself squinting to try and make out its inscription.

His efforts soon became pointless, as the two halves of the cylinder began spinning in opposite directions. A palpable aura of energy grew around it, and it even _absorbed_ the Death Star's next shot as if sucking the superlaser's beam down a drain.

"Who _is_ this girl…?" Lando breathed, his awe distracting him from how surreal the scene was.

As if she had heard, the little girl turned her head to look at the cockpit and gave him an adorable grin. "Heroic Spirit YUI, at your service."

The object in her hand swung down, and she spoke two small words that tore apart the very fabric of reality in its path.

 ** _"ENUMA ELISH!"_**


End file.
